Patters of the Rain
by Damaged1989
Summary: What if Gaara had a childhood friend? Would that change him enough to where he wouldn't be heartless during the Chuunin exam? Read and find out what happens.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: I've had this idea in my head for weeks now so please don't kill me if it sucks**_, _**which it probably will.**_

_**A/NII: Gaara will get more into character later on in the story. You'll see what happens to make him turn cold and bitter.**_

--

Pouring rain battered the windows of the village houses. Storms like this were rare, but they helped with the heat that the village suffered through just about all the time.

A strike of lightning made the nearby cat run for shelter and shake off the water that he'd been carrying for a while. It meowed and walked to a small girl. The girl looked at it and smiled a scared smile. She moved her arm from her resting place on her stomach and petted its head. Thunder boomed in the distance making the girl jump and take her arm back in a protective manner. She stood up slowly and started to walk out into the rain.

Letting the rain soak her hair and clothes, she walked to the park and sat on a swing. Swinging slightly in the rain, she shivered. It was colder than she thought it was. A small puddle danced as the water filled it when someone came to her.

"Who are you?" the voice asked her. She refused to look up at him. She didn't want to face him like everyone else did.

"I'm a nobody." she replied still watching the puddle of water. She watched his feet go over to the swing beside her. Lightning struck again and she cringed making her knuckles turn white against the rusted chain of the swing.

"You're scared of lightning?" he asked. She nodded her head.

"Anything you're scared of?" she asked trying to start small talk.

"Not really. Just people that are scared of me." he replied now looking at the puddle that she was.

"People are scared of you?" she said finally looking at him. Then she realized that it was _him_. "Oh, I didn't know that it was you." she said showing no hint of fear.

"You mean, you're not scared of me?" he asked.

"No Gaara, I am not. You're like me, but somewhat different. You had someone love you, raise you after your mother died. Soon after I was born, my father died, then soon, my mother fell in the hands of the same fate. I just know that I'm next, so I sit here waiting for it." she explained.

"Yashamaru did not care for me. He told me so himself before he died. He said that no one would even care for me. And I believe him." Gaara explained contradicting her.

"I'm sorry that I got my facts wrong. But I really must go now." she said standing up from her swing just as thunder and lightning crackled above. Letting out a soft scream, she started to walk away.

"Wait, you can't stand out here in the rain." Gaara said.

"Why not? I've been doing it for five years. What's so different about now?" she explained again stopping.

"Look at you. You're soaked. The least I can do is offer you a dry place to stay." he said surprised at what he'd said. What he didn't know was he'd never met someone that wasn't afraid of him. Everyone in the village refused to talk to him unless he accidentally hurt them. He was constantly being called "monster" and "demon-boy", but this girl, she'd called him by his real name and actually talked to him without calling him any names.

"You don't need to offer me hospitality." she said starting to walk again.

"Yes I do." he said making her stop once more. "You talked to me like someone would to a regular person. You didn't call me any names or anything, and I feel like I have to make it up to you. So please, let me offer you a place to stay for the night." he said. She turned to him slowly and nodded.

"You win. I'll go with you." she said lowly and walked back up to him. "What could do wrong?" she asked. Sand appeared out of nowhere and grasped her tightly. "…Gaara…" she said struggling to get out.

"I'm sorry. I'm not doing it." he said as his body hit the ground. "Please stop it. Don't hurt her. Please…" tears started to fill his eyes and she was dropped to the ground. She looked at his form. He was so scared. He didn't want to hurt her.

"It's okay. I'm fine." she said putting on a smile. "I'm a bit stronger than that you know." she then said as she walked up to him.

"You mean you're not hurt?" he asked still looking at the ground making sure what he was hearing was real.

"Well, I got a few scratches, but that's it. What kid won't get scratches when their our age?" she explained still smiling. He looked up and put on a sad smile. "Now, do you want me to find the way to your house or are you showing me there?" she asked. He chuckled and got up off the muddy ground and started to walk her to his house.

--

"I know it isn't much, but here are some clothes for you. If you want to take a bath, the bathroom right down the hall, second room on your left." Gaara said coming from the kitchen. "And not to mention, all I've got to eat is soup. I don't know how to cook." he then said. She laughed slightly. "What's so funny?"

"You don't even know me and yet you're letting me stay at your house. And on top of that, you don't even know my name." she replied still laughing. He looked at her and sat down the clothes beside her.

"What is your name?" he asked sitting down a few cushions away from her.

"Kagami." she said standing up. "I think I'll take that offer for a bath." she said and took the clothes and walked to the bathroom.

"Kagami…" he said lowly after he heard the door click shut.

When she returned, she relaxed on the couch that Gaara had made out of more cushions that he had before. Before, it was just a table in the middle and four cushions on each side. Thunder was muted from the outside, but was still audible to Kagami's ears, and this made her jump slightly again.

"It's okay. The monsters can't get us in here." Gaara's calm voice rang out.

"Monsters?"

"I always used to call the thunder and lightning, monsters, and I only felt safe indoors. Well, that's what Yashamaru told me before." Gaara explained bringing her some water. "Well, you know that I can control the sand. What about you?" he asked trying to figure out more about her.

"Smoke." she replied calmly. She held out her hand and focused a little bit of chakra into her palm and let the smoke swirl there. "Nothing to it. Just stay focused and calm and you're okay." she said releasing the smoke and letting it flow up to the top of the room and disappear.

"You don't seem like you're from around here. Most of the people here have sand based attacks, but you have smoke. Why is that?" he asked. Kagami shot a glance to him. He was acting more older than he was which confused her.

"It's because I'm not from here. I don't know where I'm from to tell the truth. My parents died when I was two and I've been on my own since. This was the place that they left me, so in a way, Suna is my home." she explained. She stood up and stretched. "I think I'll go to bed now. Is there a room or am I sleeping on the floor?" she asked. Gaara looked at her and stood up as well.

"Follow me." he said and started to walk forward. "It's _his_ room, but it's better than sleeping on the floor." he explained. She followed in his pattern and followed.

A few feet down the hall, Gaara opened a door that led to a small bedroom. She walked in and sat on the bed as if examining it.

"Better than sleeping on the ground like I'm used to." she said throwing him a warm smile. He watched her walk to the bed and crawl in. The blankets seemed to swallow her whole, but he could tell that she was still there. She popped her head out from the blanket and smiled at him one last time before laying down and closing her eyes. "Good night Gaara." she simply said and then, there was silence.

"_**Why are you so nice to me…? Why aren't you afraid of me…?"**_

Many questions ran through Gaara's head about things that she had said and her actions. Like why she wasn't afraid of him, or why she was so nice to him. It couldn't have been because she'd been through things like that before… could it? He was the only person that he knew in Suna that had a demon inside of them. But she was different. She showed him kindness, which was something that he couldn't comprehend at that age. But something told him that she was playing it all off. She had to be. No one would be that nice to him without wanting something in return. The whole thing that she told him had to be a lie. It just had to be….

But it wasn't…


	2. Chapter I

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

_**A/N: I've decided to put up the little chapter names because I was bored. Hopefully this'll keep up and I'll like it. lol.**_

--

_**Six Years Later/I Have A Brother!**_

--

Rain battered the windows once again, just as it did in her dream. Kagami sat up, almost screaming as the lightning overhead flashed and crackled. Letter her eyes adjust to the darkness, she though of the dream that she'd been plagued with for endless nights. The same one as before she woke up due to the cursed storm.

"Why now? Now of all times…" she said lightly as not to wake her room mate, Hinata. "Gaara…" she said after a few moments of silence. Kagami had been kidnapped from Suna when she was walking back to Gaara's home to sleep. She'd been out most of the day buying food and water for him that she didn't even see the people come up to her and knock her around a bit. Needless to say, Gaara never got his food and water. She woke up on the outskirts of Konoha.

'_5:30 am, might as well stay up…' _she thought trying to get out of the bed without waking anyone. Today was going to be a good day. One, she would become a genin, two, the Hokage wanted to talk to her about something. She didn't remember exactly what it was, but she knew that it had something to do with her and her family.

Around six o' clock, she finally decided to get dressed. She fiddled around in her dresser quietly and fished out some clothes and walked into the bathroom and changed. This days wardrobe consisted of a black tank top with a black fishnet shirt over it, blue jeans and the regular shoes. She walked out of the house to look for a place that was open to eat something small before her meeting with the Hokage and eight and her exam, which was at noon. She grabbed a jacket with a hood and walked out the door.

--

After a few minutes of searching, she spotted a place that sold rice balls for cheap. She walked up to the store and sat on a stool.

"What can I get you today miss?" the clerk asked.

"One rice ball with strawberry filling please."

"Coming right up." As she waited, someone walked up behind her.

"Good morning Kagami." the voice said making her jump a bit. She turned only to see Shino slightly smiling at her. She wiped away the fear and smiled.

With an umbrella over his head, he walked into the store, held the umbrella outside and closed it and sat it next to him as he sat down.

"Good morning. I didn't know that you woke up this early." she replied with a half smile.

"I normally don't. I guess I'm just excited about the exam." he replied. Kagami sighed.

"Anything for you today sir?" the clerk asked.

"Oh, no thanks. I'm just here to talk with Kagami and get out of the rain." Shino replied. The clerk nodded and handed the rice ball to Kagami.

"Twenty Ryu please."

"Thanks." Kagami said reaching into her pocket. "Oh man. I left my money at home. I'm sor-"

"I'll buy it for you." Shino said sticking his hand into his pocket and bringing out the necessary amount. Kagami watched him as he placed the money into the clerks hand. The clerk nodded and went back to making more rice for later buyers.

"I'm so sorry about that. I'll make it up to you as soon as I can." Kagami said feeling like a fool for forgetting her money.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." he said standing up. "I think I'll go now. Good luck with your meeting with Hokage." he then said placing a hand on her shoulder. She took a bit out of her rice ball and smiled. She swallowed and said;

"Thanks."

--

An hour later, the rain finally stopped and she took off her jacket and walked back to her house. She had to wake Hinata up anyway, so she thought that she would hang up her jacket as well.

She walked into the house and smiled. She could smell Hinata's cooking from the doorway. She followed the smell to the kitchen where Hinata was standing over the stove.

"You know that you don't have to do that. I can make you anything you want." she said. Hinata jumped slightly. Once she realized who it was, she turned and smiled.

"Well, I wanted to make something for the Hokage since your going to go see him today and something for Naruto." Hinata replied blushing once she said Naruto's name. Kagami chuckled and walked up to her.

"You should really tell him how you feel. Trust me, you'll feel a lot better afterwards. It'll feel as if a great weight was taken off your shoulders." she explained.

"But you see how I get around him." Hinata replied. The other female shot her a smile.

"Just do it. You'll end up with less grey hairs that way." she said smiling. "Well, thanks for the food. I'm sure the Hokage's going to love it." she said and walked out the door.

--

"7:55, will I make it?" Kagami asked to herself. She knew that she shouldn't had stayed so long with Hinata. Luckily, her house was near the mansion which housed the Hokage. She made it just in time. She breathed heavily as she walked into the main room.

"Umm, I'm here to speak with the Hokage." she said lowly. The room was massive. It made her want to whisper in fear of breaking some sort of rule.

"Yes, this was please." the one ANBU member said. She gulped and followed. She never thought that she would be in a place like this. Never ever. Frankly, she didn't see how he ran the whole village by living in this huge place. He was like the president of a multi million dollar corporation or something, but those types of presidents often come out to check on their staff. She knew that the Hokage often came out, but she still had yet to see him in person. While she was admiring the area around her, they quickly reached his quarters.

"Sir, Kagami has arrived." the man said.

"Send her in. You go back and attend to your duties." a voice said on the other side of the door.

"Go on in and remember to be respectful." the ANBU member said and left her alone.

Kagami placed her hand on the worn-out knob and turned it and entered the room. She looked around the room to see Mr. Aburame ad Shino inside.

"Ah, Kagami, we were waiting for you. Please, have a seat." the Hokage said waving his hand toward and empty nearby chair. She stepped forward and hesitantly sat down in the vacant chair. She sat the food that Hinata had made for him on his desk.

"Please accept this as my token of appreciation. For all that you've done for me and this village." she said bowing her head slightly.

"Ah, no need to be formal. And thank you for the food." the Hokage said and placed the bowl of food in his drawer. She hoped that he wouldn't forget to eat it. That would be one horrible mess to clean up.

"Now. I guess you are wondering why I asked you to come here. Mr. Aburame, you already know why and I take it that you've already told your son." Mr. Aburame nodded. "Yes, well. Kagami, I recently read your file. You were raised in Suna with Gaara of the Sand correct?" he asked.

"Yes sir." she replied trying her best not to be nervous.

"And that your parents died when you were two?"

"Yes sir."

"Did you ever think that you may have had other siblings somewhere? Like here perhaps?"

"No sir."

"This may come as a shock to you, but how would to respond if I told you that you have a half brother and a step father somewhere in this village?"

"I don't know sir. I guess that I would be grateful that I still have family living nearby."

Mr. Aburame stepped forward and gave her a re-assuring grin and placed his hand on her shoulder. What was the Hokage saying? She had other family somewhere near her? Why was Mr. Aburame being nice to her? She'd never met him, but he did a good job raising Shino, so she guessed that he couldn't be bad.

"It is a proven fact that you do have a brother and a step father here in Konoha with us." Mr. Aburame took his hand off her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"I was a childhood friend of your mothers and when your father died, she came to me. She stayed with me for a while and I guess you can use your imagination on what happened from here. My little Shino here is your younger half brother." Mr. Aburame explained.

"That's one reason why I was awake so early this morning. I had to meet the Hokage fifteen minutes before you did. Why I don't know since he just mainly talked with my father." Shino said sounding happy. Kagami was shocked. He actually put emotion in his voice.

"We want to welcome you into our family. Will you accept?" Mr. Aburame explained.

"I… uh…" Tears started filling up Kagami's eyes as she fumbled around with her words. She glanced at the Hokage for guidance and he nodded smiling. "Uh… I'm sorry. This is just such a big shock to me." she said without whimpering, but letting a few tears fall.

"We understand." the Hokage simply said.

"There is some good if you take the offer. This way, you will have a house of your own, living with Shino and I, a room of your own and people there to protect you when you need it." Mr. Aburame explained.

"For the past six years, I thought I was alone. I mean, I had friends, but I never had a family to run to when I was afraid, never had them to talk to about things, no family dinners, nothing. There was a void in my heart where a family should be. The forest outside of the village became my family. I mean, I would go there and talk to the animals when I was down and everything. Tell them everything that was bothering me, but it's not the same as actually having someone there to respond to you." she explained.

"Well now, you have people to fill that void, run to when you're afraid, talk to them about things, and to have family dinners with and everything. We _want_ to fill that void in your heart where a family should be. You'll still be able to go to the forest, but you won't be alone all the time anymore. You can talk to us about the things that are bothering you, talk to us when you are down. And we _will_ respond. _We'll_ welcome you home everyday with open arms. You don't need to be afraid of being alone anymore, for you aren't. You _have_ family. It's just up to you if you will accept it or not." Shino said walking up to her and placing a firm hand on her shoulder. Kagami glanced around the room.

"Go with them Kagami. It's the best that you can do. Welcome them as your initial family." the Hokage said.

More tears welled up in her eyes and Shino wiped away the ones that had started falling.

'_I don't have to be afraid anymore…'_ she thought sitting there with everyone that loved her around.

"Don't worry about anything. We'll get your things if you want to come with us." Mr. Aburame explained.

'_What do I have to lose…? Nothing. They are my family and I'm not alone anymore.'_ she thought smiling. "Daddy!" she said standing up and throwing her arms around Mr. Aburame's neck.

"That's what I wanted to hear." he said hugging her warmly back. Shino walked up to them and stood as if waiting for something. She looked at him with a tear-stained face.

"Brother!" she then said letting go of Mr. Aburame's neck and now throwing her arms around Shino's. "Thank you." she said crying harder. Shino let his cold exterior fade and hug her back. After she let go, she faced the Hokage.

"Thank you sir for reuniting me with my family." she said bowing.

"I told you, no need for formalities. Please." he said smiling warmly and walking out from behind his desk. "Now Shino, you know what this means. You aren't an only child anymore. Stay with her whenever you can unless she tells you not to and protect her. She may be older, but she's not seen everything that you have." he said placing a hand on Shino's shoulder. He nodded in return and the Hokage turned to face Kagami. "You're home." he said and hugged her himself. She hugged him back lightly and let go when he did. "Well, now that that is settled, I'll get someone to get your things and explain everything to Hinata and her friend. And if I'm not mistaken, you two have an exam to do today. Do you're best you two." the Hokage said and went back behind his desk. "You may leave, and I'm going to eat this delicious looking food."

Everyone faced the Hokage and bowed.

--

Kagami followed the moving crew to Hinata's house. She had to do some of the packing since she didn't want the people looking through her diary or undergarment drawer.

She piled those things into a suitcase of her own, picked it up and went to speak with Hinata.

"I'll come visit you whenever I can okay?" she said making Hinata jump a bit.

"Where are you going?" Hinata asked. Apparently, she didn't hear the news.

"I have a family! They said that it was okay for me to move in with them." Kagami explained.

"Who's you're family?" the other girl asked. Kagami threw on a smile.

"Shino and Mr. Aburame." she replied.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you." Hinata replied smiling back.

"I just came back because I had some things that I didn't want the movers to see." Kagami explained. "And also to tell my bestest friend goodbye." she then said putting down the suitcase. She walked up to Hinata and hugged her lightly. Hinata hugged her back and let go.

"You go be happy with your family." Hinata said in a joking way and smiling.

"You ready to go Kagami?" one of the movers asked.

"Yes sir." she replied. "Goodbye Hinata."

"Bye bye. Good luck." the other female replied walking her to the door.

"Thanks." Kagami said and walked out of the door.

--

_**A/N: Geez, this chapter was really hard for me to write. Having a brother is something that I used to have in common with Kagami, but he died. I guess you could say that she is kinda me in a way, minus most of the bad things.**_


	3. Chapter II

**D****isclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

_**Memories of the Past**_

--

"Okay, when I call your name, please step forward." Iruka-sensi spoke with utter calmness. He took a glance from his clipboard to the front of him and smiled. He was so happy to see most of his students pass the exam. The Replication Technique is a pretty hard technique to master. "Aburame Kagami, Shino Aburame, Akimichi Chouji, Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuua Neji, Yamanaka Ino, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, Nara Shikamaru, Uchiha Sasuke, and Ten-Ten." the named students stepped forward. "You twelve have passed the exam and have become Genin. Come with me to receive your protectors." Iruka-sensi explained and walked toward the door. The twelve that passed, soon followed after smiles and slight tears.

--

After the selected twelve received their forehead protectors, and some congrats from their family's, Kagami walked back to the swing nearby the entrance to the academy. She knew that one kid would be there. He seemed to always be there, sitting on the swing alone.

"Why are you always sitting here?" she asked walking up to him.

"Haven't got anywhere else to go. No family, no friends." he replied.

"Oh. Sorry I bought it up then." Kagami said looking at the ground. He looked up at her.

"Tell me something. Are you afraid of me?" he asked. She looked at him wide-eyed and memories flooded her mind.

"_You mean you're not scared of me?" he asked._

"_No Gaara, I am not. You're like me, but somewhat different. You had someone to love you, raise you after your mother died. Soon after I was born, my father died, then soon, my mother fell in the hands of the same fate. I just know that I'm next, so I sit here waiting for it." she explained._

"_Yashamaru did not care for me. He told me so himself before he died. He said that no one would ever care for me. And I believe him." Gaara explained contradicting her._

"Well, are you afraid of me?" he asked again snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry. No I am not. I have a friend from a different village just like you. And I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him one day. You'll have friends soon. You may not get along with them, but they will protect you when you need it. Something that a person can never forget is their friends. They will be there for you." she explained. The boy smiled. That was the first time that she'd seem him smile a real smile.

"My name's Naruto." he said holding out his hand.

"Nice to finally talk to you Naruto. I'm Kagami." she replied taking his hand and shaking it. "Sorry to cut this short, but Mr. Abu- I mean daddy and brother are waiting for me. I'll talk to you later okay?" she said standing up straight.

"Okay. See you later." Naruto replied and went back to staring at the large group of people ahead of him.

--

"We will announce your party members tomorrow. Now, go home and celebrate." Iruka-sensi's voice boomed over the crowed that had gathered.

Kagami pushed her way through the crowd until she managed to see part of Shino, the rest of him was covered by people. She managed to find a way out of the crowd and walked over to him.

"I see that you made it as well." she said nudging her brother playfully. He put on a smile and nodded. "Think you can help me here? I'm not good with putting these things on." she explained.

"Where to?" Shino asked. Kagami pointed to her upper-mid arm. Shino nodded and tied it there for her.

"So we're just sitting here waiting for dad?" she asked trying to spark up conversation.

"Yeah. He said that he might be a little late, but he would be here." Shino replied staring back at the same place he was when she walked up to him. There was a silence before he spoke again. "Chunin exams are in six months now. You ready for them?" he asked.

"Not at this time. Let me get used to being a Genin first and then I might be." she replied smiling.

"I'm going to sit down and rest. Let me know when dad gets here please." she said walking to the nearby wall and sitting down. Shino nodded and looked off into the distance once again.

She placed her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

"_I always used to call the thunder and lightning, monsters, and I only felt safe indoors. Well, that's what Yashamaru told me before." Gaara explained bringing her some water. "Well, you know that I can control the sand. What about you?" he asked trying to figure out more about her._

"_Smoke." she replied calmly. She held out her hand and focused a little bit of chakra into her palm and let the smoke swirl there. "Nothing to it. Just stay focused and calm and you're okay." she said releasing the smoke and letting it flow up to the top of the room and disappear._

"Kagami, dad's here." a voice said bringing her out of her thoughts. She felt a hand be placed on her arm as she opened her eyes.

"Oh." she said softly and stood up. "Hi dad." she said waving slightly. It still felt strange for her to call Mr. Aburame that, but she knew with time that she would get used to it.

"Well, congratulations you two. I'm very proud of you." their father exclaimed. "I bet you two are hungry. Let's get something to eat." he said and walked a bit forward. Shino and Kagami soon followed.

--

After they ate, they returned home. Kagami walked around the house for it being her first time there. Shino showed her to her new room and she told him to leave so that she could unpack everything.

With that, he left and let her be. He knew that everything that she was going through was a huge change, and that she would get used to it with time, but he didn't know how much time. He didn't really know how to be a brother. He just knew that he was going to protect her whenever she needed it. He promised to Hokage that he would. He couldn't be selfish, pleading, or anything of that nature. Not that he ever was, but he knew that he had to accept her after that long speech that he'd given her.

A couple of hours later, she finally emerged from her room. She was really wanting to know more about Mr. Aburame and Shino, but she was just too afraid to ask. She didn't want to make herself feel embarrassed or stupid.

"You want to know more about the Aburame clan don't you?" Shino asked suddenly making her jump just a bit. She nodded, but felt more embarrassed than she ever could. "Don't be shy to ask us anything. We'll try and answer it the best we can. You are our newest family member, but we aren't going to treat you like a child. Just be yourself and you'll be fine." he then explained.

"For one, when we were born, we were infused with bugs that feed off our chakra. It's not bad at all. But because of that, we sometimes run out of chakra faster than anyone else. But on an upside, the bugs attack the enemy and can do other things for us. It's like a deal thing." Mr. Aburame explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I have a question. Since I'm part of your clan, why don't I have chakra bugs inside me?" she asked feeling less smarter than she was when she first sat down at the table.

"Well, instead of bugs, you have smoke, which in a way, can be used the same way. But your smoke doesn't feed off your chakra. Inside your body, you have an infinite amount of smoke. It's like you were smoking way before you were born." Mr. Aburame explained again.

"Oh, I see. So that's what he meant that day." she said trailing off into her thoughts.

"What who meant…"

"_You're a unique person Kagami. You said a few days back that you were like me. That's not true. See, I have no one to love me, and you did." Gaara explained._

"_Yes you do. I'm your friend and I love you Gaara." Kagami said countering his words. This made him take a step back and look at the ground._

"_You say that now, but I know what happens after this. You say that and they you'll leave me all alone. Either that or you'll lie to me like he always did. You're just-"_

"_Gaara! I won't leave you! I'll stay here with you as long as I can. I promise."_

"Kagami? Come back to us Kagami." Shino said waving his hand in front of her face.

"Huh?" she said looking around. "Oh, I'm sorry. I've been going off into my own thoughts all day." she said apologetic.

"What who meant back then?" Mr. Aburame asked.

"Oh, no one. Just an old friend of mine back when I was in Suna." she explained. She looked around to find a clock on a nearby wall. "Well, I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you guys tomorrow." she said standing up and walking back to her room.

--

She laid there on her stomach in the dark for a while. When she heard someone walking down the hall, she closed her eyes tightly. It worked when Mr. Aburame walked by her door, but not for Shino. He tapped lightly on the door and waited for an answer.

"Come in." she said while sighing.

"You okay? You nodded off in there when dad was trying to explain." Shino asked with a hint of care in his voice.

"Yeah. I've just been thinking a lot about my time in Suna. I mean, I was taken from there only after I promised him that I wouldn't leave him." she replied sitting up and looking at the floor.

"Promised who?" the other male asked.

"Oh… A friend of mine. His name is Gaara." she said still looking at the floor. "I don't even know if he still remembers me, but I remember him. I hope that he's not mad at me. I mean, he never got his food." she explained.

"What were you doing when you were taken?" Shino asked walking farther into the room and shutting the door.

"Well, I told him that I would be back in a few minutes because I was going to get some food and water for us because we were low. We were the only ones each of us had. He was living on his own because his uncle died and I never had anywhere to go. Anyway, I was walking back to his home when I heard someone come up behind me. I felt someone grab my arm and then the only thing I saw was darkness. I woke up right outside of the village here." she explained.

"I think I remember who ordered that. Back then, we were going though a lot and the Hokage wanted as many people in the village as possible, but he still sent out a few ANBU members to go search for the villagers that had already went out. He looked you up and he saw that your mother used to go here, so he assumed that you belonged here I guess. Don't be mad at the Hokage. He didn't know." Shino explained.

"Well, I didn't know either. Least he could have done was let me tell Gaara bye." Kagami said crossing her arms.

"I'm sure that he did it for a reason. He knew that you were just living mainly alone and how young you were. Back then, he still had no idea that you had any family, but he knew that your mother went here." her brother explained again.

"I know, but…"

"No buts. You need your rest. You've had a long day. You've got a longer one ahead of you. Sleep now." he said touching her forehead.

Kagami's eyes grew weak and they finally closed. Shino covered her up and walked out of her room.

"Gaara…"

--

_**A/N: To clear this up with anyone that may ask. YES I KNOW THAT SHINO IS SUPPOSED TO BE ALL COLD AND NOT AS TALKITIVE! I wanted him to be more social to her since she is his sister and everything.**_

_**darkwater-reflection: You'll see what happened to Gaara in later chapters. Right now what I'm trying to do is get her settled into a new family's home. Thanks for the review**_


	4. Chapter III

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**Forsaken Destiny**_

--

Kagami walked out of her new home to get some fresh air. Today was when they were going to tell her that she was getting a three man team. To be blunt, she was afraid of getting someone that wouldn't like her, but she knew that she would manage.

Walking into the training grounds, she went and rested against a tree. She thought that she was going to train while she was here, but as soon as she stood up, she was interrupted.

"Kagami, how are you?" she heard someone ask. She turned to see Shikamaru walking lazily up to her.

"Oh, I'm good. What brings you here today?" she replied putting on a smile.

"Just thought that I would take a different route to the rooftop that I like to lie on." he explained looking up at a passing cloud.

"I see. Hey, who do you hope that you get in your team?" she asked.

"Haven't really thought about it. Too troublesome, but since you asked, I guess I'll tell you. Chouji and you." he replied. Kagami's cheeks reddened a bit when he said 'you'.

"Why me? I can't do anything." she said shyly looking at the ground.

"Sure you can. You just don't know it yet. But with you able to control smoke it really cool." he said taking his gaze from the cloud to her. "What are you blushing for?" he asked putting on a cocky grin.

"N-Nothing. I was just thinking." she said quickly.

"Who do you hope is in your team?" Shikamaru asked after a few moments of silence.

"Um.. You and Brother." she replied.

"Oh yeah. You just found out the Shino was your brother didn't you? I'm sorry, I totally forgot." he said trying to form his words so that they wouldn't come out wrong and upset her.

"No, it's okay. I'm just happy that I have a family. I thought I was alone before. I turn thirteen and everything changes." she replied smiling.

"Yeah. Your teens change you a lot huh?" he asked.

"I guess they do. Isn't it about time to head to the academy?" she asked putting a sense of hope inside her.

"Oh yeah. Want me to walk with you?" Shikamaru asked. Kagami looked at him and nodded. They had to go to the same place, but she figured that he was going to walk there later.

--

"Okay, today you will be put into teams. As a member, it is your responsibility to take care of the other two. I'm going to read off this list. When you hear your name, listen up." Iruka-sensi said holding a clipboard in front of him. "Team one…" and his voice trailed off as Kagami started to think about what Shikamaru had told her. "Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga and Kiba Inuzuka; you are in Team Eight."

Kagami sighed when she knew that she wasn't going to be in her brothers team. Maybe it was better that way. She wouldn't be there to slow them down if she got hurt or something. After all, Hinata and Neji weren't in the same team and they were related.

"Team Ten will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Chouji Akimichi." Iruka-sensi said after he stopped for a minute to catch his breath. "Team Eleven will be Akira Niwa, Kagami Aburame, and Haru Kane. The ones that I didn't mention, come with me and I will assign you different student from a different classroom." Iruka-sensi said and waited for the people that weren't called to come up to him. About three people stood up and walked over to him. He smiled at them and walked out of the room with them on his heels.

Kagami looked around to find her two teammates sitting side by side already. She stood up and walked over to them to introduce herself.

"Good morning. I'm Kagami Aburame. It's nice to meet you." she said with the most kindness that she could muster up. The truth was, she was terrified. She didn't know these two. For all she knew, they could be out to kill her and she not know it until it was already too late.

"Morning. I'm Akira, nice to meet you too." the blonde haired, brown eyed male said. The other male was silent. "Don't mind Haru, he's always like that. You just learn to get used to it." Akira explained the reasoning for the other males behavior.

"Okay." she replied shyly. She then looked around to see if she saw Shino or Shikamaru, but they weren't around.

"WHY AM I WITH YOU!" she heard someone yell quite loudly. She looked around to find the source of the voice. Just as she figured, Naruto was standing up and pointing at one of his team mates. She slowly walked up to him with a smile on her face. That's why she liked people like him. They were spontaneous, but yet, so predictable.

"Naruto, this is a classroom. Please lower your voice." she said putting a tone of authority in her voice, but yet, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Hey, you're that kid from yesterday." he said with it sounding more like a question than a statement. "Kagami I think."

"Nice to see that you remembered my name." Kagami said smiling from ear to ear. "But please calm down." she said looking to his team mates. "Just because you have Sasuke in your team doesn't mean that you have to cause a fuss about it. At least you know them. Unlike me. I don't know the two others with me." she explained. Naruto sighed in frustration and sat back down. She smiled at him one last time before walking back to her team.

"You handled that nicely." Akira said. Haru grunted in approval, but kept quiet afterwards.

"Does he talk at all?" she asked looking at him.

"He will eventually. He just has to warm up to you. He's always like this to people that he doesn't know. He thinks that it'll keep him safer than starting up a conversation with a stranger, as I did earlier." Akira explained smiling slightly. She watched him look over to the other male. He really was… strange.

"Kagami! The Hokage wants you and your team as soon as possible!" someone yelled. She turned to see Shikamaru motioning for her to follow him. With the scraping of chairs, the other two males were up and behind her.

"What does he want?" she asked once they were out of the room.

"He says that there was an important mission just for you. Something about testing your skills on a low level one. I'm not sure exactly." Shikamaru explained.

'_Test my skills…?' _she thought as she walked up the long staircase to the Hokage's room.

She knocked on the door and heard the faint 'enter' from the man inside.

"You wanted to see us?" she asked once everyone was inside and the door was shut.

"Yes. I'm sorry to put this on you so suddenly and that you haven't gotten used to working in a team yet, but I've decided that I'm not going to put you though the training. I know these two have excellent skill. As for you, this is a test. Do your best." the Hokage said giving them a smile.

"This mission is taking place in Waterfall Country. Be on your guard. You three are sent there because someone there is threatening their Emperor. You will be his bodyguards. This is supposed to be a Rank D mission, but it could easily be a Rank A. Be careful." the person standing beside the Hokage explained.

"And so no one finds out about this, for the sake of everything, we will give you your weapons here." the Hokage said pushing forward three side bags. "Keep them close and be on your guard."

With a nod and a reassuring smile from the Hokage, they left the mansion and walked to the village gates without anyone asking them question, thankfully. Kagami guessed that they thought that they were just going to training, but boy! were they wrong.

"Shikamaru…?" Kagami said as the figure of her friend appeared from behind one of the gates.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"It's been cleared with the Hokage. He wants me to come with you for protection. He thought that my Shadow Binding Technique would become useful." he explained putting on a cocky grin.

"Okay. So you don't have to go through training either?" she asked.

"No, just Chouji and Ino." he replied lacing his fingers together and putting his hands behind his head.

And with that final note, they were on their way to Waterfall Country to protect an Emperor.

--

_**Yes I know that things like that just DON'T happen normally, but it's my fanfic and I wanted it to happen. That and I was low on name usage for them to have a sensei.**_


	5. Chapter IV

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

_**A/N: There is a small time skip. Just because I'm lazy and don't feel like telling you guys about the walk there. Also, keep in mind that I don't know much about this country. This is just like a random town that they are in just to protect the Emperor. Please, keep reviews about that nice.**_

--

_**Blind Oblivion **_

--

As they walked into the city, people, children and animals alike welcomed them. It was like they were Gods from long ago reborn into them. Well, that would at least aid them in finding the Emperor's palace in the mean time.

Lavish buildings and clothing of the nature, Kagami sighed when she looked at it all. This was nothing that she had expected. They didn't have any of these things in Konoha.

"Just remember the mission and you'll do fine. My father told me about this place when I was younger, so I know a bit about it. If you need to know anything, come to me." Shikamaru explained silently. Kagami mentally kicked herself for actually forgetting. "The Emperor's palace should be," he said looking up. "right over there." he said now extending his hand and pointing. Kagami, Akira and Haru followed his point to one of the biggest buildings in the town.

"How did you know that?" Akira asked with suspicion.

"Once someone tells me something, I never forget it." the black haired male explained himself.

"Akira, drop it. Let's go." the male that never talked said trying to calm Akira. Akira looked at him and nodded, Kagami and Shikamaru looked at each other, and then to Haru.

"You spoke…? I thought you were… like a mute or something." Kagami said almost dumbfounded. Haru didn't speak again.

"He doesn't like to talk to people, I said that. But if he has to talk, he will." Akira explained. Kagami and Shikamaru looked at each other again, but didn't say anything.

--

"Since it's about noon, and we traveled for three days, I say that we get something to eat before we carry on. You never know when we will need the strength." Akira explained. He was right, in fact, he hit the nail on the head, but the problem was; they couldn't find anywhere to eat. Everything started to look the same. Some clothing stores, a out-of-place flower shop. It wasn't until they stumbled into a small diner did they walk in. They ate, paid the bill, left a tip, and left. Now, it was finally time for the to meet the Emperor.

They walked for what seemed like hours, when they finally stood, gaping at the size of the pagoda looking palace. The guards nodded at them, but let them pass. They were led by another guard to the Emperor's chamber.

"Wait here. His Majesty will be here soon." the guard said and left them there to stare in wonder at the room.

Kagami shot a couple of glances toward her team mates. They all seemed to calm. She guessed that she would have to act like she was too. Apparently, the others could tell of her nervousness because they all looked at her.

"Calm down. Making yourself nervous will only make things go worse for us." Shikamaru said placing a hand on her arm. She looked and him and inhaled deeply. He was right though. Why did she have to be afraid of who or what was going to come out from behind that door over there?

Soon afterwards, the door opened to reveal a handsome man. Black hair, blue eyes. To Kagami, he looked more like a model than an Emperor. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"I guess your four are wondering why you are here. One of my attendants have received word that neighboring villages are wanting me dead. They know that with my death, they could hold everyone here at their mercy, if they showed any. The reason why I asked my attendant to go to Konoha was to hire some ninja, such as yourselves, to protect me until the Inaugurations is over. I'm sorry to ask you this on such short notice." he explained.

"How long until they are over?" she heard someone ask. She looked to her left to see Akira leaning toward the man.

"Two more days at the most. If it is held longer, I will tell you personally." the man answered. "If you will excuse me, I have one more meeting today. I would like it if you four would attend." he explained putting on a slight smile.

"Just let us know when you need us." Akira said. He seemed to be taking the role of 'leader' pretty quickly.

"If you follow me, I will show you to your rooms. I'm sorry to say, but according to the Emperor, we are only allowed to have two spare rooms. I'm sorry Ma'am, but you will have to sleep with a Gentleman tonight and tomorrow." a man with brown hair piped up.

"Oh no, that's fine." Kagami replied with a gentle smile.

"Well then. I will let you three discuss who will be rooming with her."

And with that, they were out of one of the biggest rooms in the palace. Kagami heard murmuring behind her. She listened intently to find out who would be in the room with her.

"This will be the two guys' room." the brown haired man explained opening a door. The room was like a normal room, save a few extra space and a few paintings that no one Kagami knew would have hanging up in their house.

"We'll take this room." Akira said pointing to himself and Haru.

"Are you sure? I mean, you don't have to room with another guy if you don't want to." Kagami said butting in.

"I'm sure. I know him the best anyway, so it'll just be like a sleepover." Akira replied putting on a slight smile. The brown haired man nodded and moved to the room next to it on the right.

"Since they have that room, you two will have this one." he said opening the next door. Same as the room before except instead of having brown walls, this one had sheet rock white. They were painted, they just still looked like sheet rock. Kagami wanted desperately to go out a buy a bucket of light blue paint and paint the room herself. She knew that it wouldn't look all that good, but anything was better than sheet rock white. "The Emperor has a speech soon, but I'm sure that he won't mind it if you look around and get acquainted with your surroundings before then. Feel free to look around and please, don't go into the basement." the brown haired man said.

"What's in the basement?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nothing really, that I know of anyways. He doesn't even let the workers down there. He insist that he'll clean it himself. So we just do as he says, and I hope that you will follow his order as well." the brown haired man explained. He bowed and with that, he was gone, shutting the door behind him.

Kagami walked over to one of the beds and put her pouch on it and sat down. She was surprised at how soft the bed was, but she didn't say anything. Merely looked at the bed with her eyes wide was all.

"So what are we going do now?" she asked. Shikamaru looked at her questioningly. "I mean, are we going to walk around, or just sit here and stare at each other?" she explained putting on a smile. Shikamaru fished inside his pocket without saying anything. He soon held a folded piece of paper in his hand.

"Does this make any sense to you? I was planning on giving it to someone special to me, but I don't know if she'll like it. You're a girl, so I figured I would ask you." he said handing the paper to her. She unfolded it and read it's scribbled words.

'_I hope that this letter finds you well. Of course it does, you are always well. There is something that I really have to tell you, for it's been on my mind for ages now. I want to know if you like me. Well, I know that you like me as a friend, but I mean __**more**__ than a friend, as in a lover. I know that all this sounds really lame to you, but please forgive me, I'm no good with letters of this sort, well, letters in general. I know that you may think of me as lazy or annoying, but hey, anyone's better than Naruto,' _This caused Kagami to curl her lips into a smile. _'Well, I was just wondering if you would be my partner in crime. Crime as in love and partner as in girlfriend.' _

"Partner in crime?" she asked sarcastically, but looking up at him with a smile. He put on an embarrassed smile, but nodded. "You are right about one thing in here though," she said and he looked up at her. "anyone is better than Naruto." she said laughing slightly.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked with his hand on the back of his neck.

"If I was this 'special' person, I would truly feel special. I know that it's hard for some people to come out and tell others how they feel, me being one, but that's not the point. But in all seriousness, I would accept it. It's sweet coming from a guy like you. I wouldn't have thought that you really had a sensitive side, and please, take no offence to that, but you seem to be the type that doesn't really show what he's feeling no matter what's going on." she replied letting her smile fade a little.

"Would you really accept it?" he asked. She nodded, letting her smile brighten again. "You know when I ran into you yesterday at the training grounds?" he asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" she said thoughtful. There was a silence. Shikamaru didn't know what to say. He sighed heavily. "Shikamaru, who were you going to give this too?" she asked suddenly realizing that it might have been her. He looked at her for a while before opening his mouth.

"Kagami, I really care for you," he said walking up to her, getting on his knees and taking her hands lightly. "and I was hoping that you would accept that letter. Kagami, I really love you. Even though we are just kids, I wanted you to be happy with or without me." he said looking at her in the eyes.

"Shikamaru…" she said blushing heavily. He put on a smile. "… I will accept this." she said almost jumping with joy, her heart about to burst with emotions. Instead of bawling, like most girls would do, she threw her arms around his neck in a light embrace. They let go of each other just as the door opened. Shikamaru jumped up quickly so the person on the other side wouldn't think anything bad was going on.

"Kagami, Shikamaru, come on. Someone just got inside the palace. The Emperor says that it's someone out for him." Akira said quickly. Kagami grasped her pouch and tied it to her leg again, looked at Shikamaru, nodded, and then they were out of the room to find the mystery man and stop him from hurting the Emperor.

--

They met up with the brown haired man halfway to the Emperor's quarters and he told them that the Inaugurations weren't going to be held anymore and that he had won. That was the good news. The bad news was someone had managed to get passed their guards and was quickly reaching the Emperor.

"You go get the Emperor, we'll stop this guy." Akira said.

"Be careful. Most of the people that have come to kill him control something. First it was ice, then fire, I don't know what it'll be this time." the brown haired man explained and ran back toward the Emperor.

When they found the man, they told him to leave, but he insisted on staying to finish his mission. Well, they did to. They weren't going to give up that easily just because the man looked scary (which he did). They managed to get him away from the palace and the town.

Now, in a field, the battle would be taking place. Akira and Haru had already begun to fight. Kagami was afraid and Shikamaru was trying to snap her out of it telling her that it would be okay. She slowly took a kunai out of her pouch and ran toward the man, knowing that this might cost her later, but it was better than just standing around and doing nothing while everyone else worked hard. Shikamaru used his Shadow Binding technique, which caused the man to stop moving completely. Or so they thought.

"This isn't over kiddies." he said and raised his right hand in Kagami's fear stricken face and a yellow mist emitted from his hand. Kagami covered her eyes like a bright light was just shined into them. "She won't be using her eyes any time soon. That's acid my loyal enemies." he said and kicked her twice in the head. One to bring her down and another to get her away from him.

Shikamaru ran over to her and asked her if she was okay. She nodded and said a quick lie and gathered smoke in her hand. Using her chakra, she managed to make a smokescreen around her group and the man.

"Thanks Kagami!" she heard someone shout. And then she heard the sound of embers. She sent her smoke out to scout out the man for her. She trailed him, playing cat and mouse with him. Since she still had the kunai in her hand, she lunged at the man at the opportune moment and stabbed him in the eyes, making sure that he wouldn't be able to see either. As a natural reaction, the man grasped her by her neck and threw her away like she was a rag doll. Shikamaru did his binding technique once more and Haru attacked him with a ball of ice, which froze him to the spot. Kagami got up and lunged at him once more, finally making him go to his knees. He took out some sort of weapon and stabbed her a couple of times to get her off of him, but she wasn't letting go. She thrust the kunai that she had into his neck and dragged it out so that it was slitting his neck, killing him hopefully. Before he fell, he stabbed her one last time just below her rib cage and she fell with him.

"Kagami!" a voice cried out. She sense someone beside her.

"I can't see. What happened?" she asked through gasps of air.

"Don't talk. Save you're energy." the voice said. It seemed to far away. Who was it?

"Why can't I see?" she asked, disobeying the voice.

"We're taking you back to Konoha. You need to be in a hospital. Think you can make it until we get there?" another voice said.

"Knowing our luck, since this was our first mission and all, medical ninja's might already be dispatched. You know how the Hokage is." the voice that was talking to her before said.

Everything around her seemed to swirl and fade. She couldn't see or hear. She hurt like she'd never hurt before.

'_Am I dead…?'_ she thought weakly before she blacked out completely.

--

_**darkwater-reflection: thank you for reading this far. I know that this chapter was really fast paced, but I'm not all that good at writing action pieces, so this is like a first for me. laughs Yes, Shino had a heart! I bet you can't wait to read what happens when he finds out this has happened to his sister.**_


	6. Chapter V

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

§§§

_**Cold Hard Truth**_

A small bird made it's small noise letting all hear that it was near. Kagami opened her eyes to feel a slight breeze on her face. She tried to look around, but all she could see was black. Her eyes moved to try and see around her, but nothing was helping her in seeing. She could hear everything, but see nothing. What was the point she thought. She thought that she just had a rag or something over her eyes, which she did. She felt for it and took it off, but that didn't help. It helped things get a bit brighter, but that was all. Everything around her was silent, save that one small bird outside.

"Kagami…?" a voice said beside her. She looked to it thinking that it would help her find out who it was, but it didn't.

"Why can't I see?" she asked. Silence. "Why can't I see?" she asked again putting more into her voice.

"You were hit with acid in your eyes. Kagami, you are blind." the voice said. It took her a moment to figure out who it was.

"Shino? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." he replied sounding upset. He got up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"When was the last time you slept?" she asked. She realized that he sounded like he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Three days. Even since you got back." he explained with sorrow and tiredness still thick in his voice.

_'Three days…?'_

"Are you okay!" another voice asked loudly.

"I will be. Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in the hospital. As soon as we got back, I took you here on my back." the voice explained. Kagami raised her arms to touch the person that she was just talking to. It took her a minute, but she could tell that it was Shikamaru. She didn't know many people that had their forehead protectors on their arm.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Well…," Shikamaru said rubbing the back of his neck and looking at Shino, who nodded. He played back the whole story back to her so that she wouldn't be in a complete loss.

Faint knocking stopped her from talking to them any further. The door opened and according to Shikamaru's words, it was Hinata.

"Kaga, are you okay?" she asked putting a basket of fruit down beside her.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Kagami replied trying to put on a smile. Hinata knew that she was just playing tough.

"I thought that you said that you would be okay?" Hinata said with a few tears welling up in her eyes.

"I know I did. I'm alive aren't I?" Kagami replied trying to make the situation seem less harmful than it was. "Speaking of being alive, where are Akira and Haru?" she asked.

"They stayed here as long as they could last night. They said that they would be back later today." Shino explained.

§§§

Kagami let out a sigh. It was past noon on the second day that she'd been awake and she wanted to go home already. Not to mention that the bird that was there the day before was really starting to get to her. Through the days that she was sleeping and the day that she was awake, people of all sorts left her things. Shikamaru said that Hinata had been there before she woke up and left her a small basket of food (that he ate for himself, he got a slap on the arm for that), Haru and Akira left cards and a couple of flowers that they got at Ino's flower shop. Shino would stay with her and stay awake just to see if she would wake up. Himself would come in everyday to stay with her and talk to her even though she may or may not have heard him. Naruto even came in and left a few bowls of un-cooked Ramen. He said that the only thing it needed was water and to eat. Strangely enough, the Hokage stopped by and told her (even though she was sleeping) that she didn't have to go through with the training, and that she passed his small test. He did want to see her as soon as she was dispatched however.

"How are you today Kagami?" a nurse said after a few minutes of checking her out.

"I'm okay. Do you know when I can go home?" Kagami replied.

"Although I think you could go home today and by yourself, the doctor wants someone to come pick you up. I think the Hokage said that he would come pick you up as soon as he finished some of his left over paperwork on the mission that you and your team was just on." the nurse replied.

"Is it true that I may never be able to see again?" she asked. The nurse hesitated with her answer, and Kagami was starting to get used to living in darkness. "Just tell me. I can handle it." she then said.

"Yes, there is a possibility. But we are looking into it right now. We will do our best to bring your eyesight back. This may just be something that will go away in a few years, but we still aren't one hundred percent sure." she replied with guilt in her voice.

"Well, since you're feeling guilty about something and I know that you're not going to tell me, can you at least take one of those Ramen bowls and make it for me?" Kagami asked trying to lighten up the situation. The nurse nodded (not that Kagami could see this) and took a chicken bowl and left the room. She returned a few minutes later with a steaming soup. Kagami ate until she was full and as soon as she put her chopsticks down, she heard knocking on her door.

"Good afternoon Kagami. I'm sorry that I'm so late." a man said.

"I'm sorry for asking, but who are you?" she asked feeling really stupid.

"It's fine dear. It's the Hokage." he said feeling nothing toward what she said. He knew about her predicament.

"Does this mean that I can leave now?" she said getting her hopes up.

"We'll need to get in contact with your step father-"

"Father!"

"Father, and get him to sign the forums." the nurse said with a slight smile on.

"Well, I can see that you've taken a liking to Mr. Aburame and Shino." the Hokage said.

"Yes sir. Thank you again for reuniting me with them." she said.

"Don't worry about it, and nurse, if you don't mind, I've already contacted Mr. Aburame and he knows that his step… daughter will be coming home soon. He said that I could sign the papers. He got called on a mission a few days after they came back." the Hokage explained. The nurse nodded and walked out of the room. "Okay, since you can leave today, where do you want to go?" he asked her.

"I would like to go see the faces of the Hokages please. " she replied hopeful. Not that she could really see them, she mainly wanted out of a hospital and into the real world, without the coldness of it all until winter came around.

§§§

After they left the hospital (Kagami had to be in a wheelchair because they thought that she would cause more harm to herself and others trying to walk around), the Hokage, Shino, Shikamaru made their way to the wall.

"I can still see them clear in my mind." she said, her voice full of awe.

"I wish that things would've worked out better with them." the Hokage said looking at them as if he still remembered them.

They stayed there looking at their three fallen members for a while. It wasn't until the Hokage said that he wanted to talk to Kagami alone did Shino and Shikamaru leave.

"We'll come get you in a little bit okay." Shikamaru said looking at Shino as he spoke.

"Okay. I'll see you guys soon." she replied and heard them walk away. "What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked once she couldn't hear them anymore. The Hokage looked around to make sure no one was around and finally spoke.

"I know that what just happened to you was a shock, and I really don't want to tell you this, but I have to. I've thought about it ever since you returned and I found out your condition." he stopped to take a breath. She knew that it was going to be something that she didn't want to hear, but it was all she could do. Since she couldn't see, she didn't know her way home anymore. "I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you should be a ninja anymore." he finished with some regret in his voice.

"Why?" she asked, regretting it the moment she spoke the word. She knew that she'd gotten herself into when she accepted to go to the Academy. Anything bad could happen if you were walking in your own home, let alone on a mission.

"I'm sorry that I have to say this, but it's what I think would be best for you." he replied feeling sorry that he'd made her upset. She got out of the wheelchair quickly and stood facing him. She knew that he was behind her for she felt the chair stop when she stood up so quickly.

"I'm really sorry to say this too, but you don't know what's best for me. I do! I will continue being a ninja whether you like it or not!" she yelled, hearing her echo in the distance. Then it hit her. She actually yelled at the Hokage. The person that brought her back to a family and a home. He did everything for her ever since she came to this village all those years ago. "I'm sorry…" she said sadly and with her head down and a few tears running down her face.

"It's okay. You had the right. You were just sticking up for yourself even though you are blind." he said walking up to her. He wiped away the tears that had fallen and spoke; "You inherit the will of fire. Everyone in this village does, even if they aren't from here. I know that you will make me happy with whatever you do." he explained. "Now sit back down. I'll take you home." he said and walked back to the wheelchair and waited behind it. She turned her back to him to sit back down and soon, they were off to her home.

§§§

"What did he want to talk to you about?" Shikamaru asked once the Hokage had left her home.

"I don't want to talk about it…" she said, her voice trailing off. Before anyone could speak again, she said; "Can someone help me to my room. I just want to be alone right now."

"Sure." Shikamaru said. He shot a quick glance at Shino, who nodded, and he put his hand on her back.

"Third room on the left." she heard Shino say, and then, they were walking.

Once inside her room, she couldn't hold back what she was hiding. Tears fell and her nose started to run.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked with a caring tone.

"He said that I shouldn't be a ninja anymore, and I yelled at him. After everything he did for me, I yelled at him." she said stopping to sniffle a bit and cough.

"I'm sure he didn't mind it. He's always calm about things. I'm sure he just shrugged it off like it was nothing. I mean, he does have more things to worry about than what's going on with you." he explained.

"I know, but it's just the fact that I yelled at him." she said once she'd calmed down a bit. She felt him sit beside her.

"It's okay. I'm sure he's fine. He's used to things like this." the male said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"He's right. He does run this whole village." another voice said making her jump a bit.

"When did you get in here?" she asked once she realized that Shino was standing in her doorway.

"When I heard you break down." he replied with a matter-of-fact tone. She heard him walk into the room and sit on the other side of her. "Everything's going to be fine. We'll help you with your training so that you can prove to him that you can still be a ninja if you want." he said.

She saw a light after he spoke. Soft green. She looked on the other side of her where Shikamaru was and saw a pale blue light.

"Guys… I think I can see you." she said with a voice of surprise. "Not like you see me, but I see lights around you. Shino, yours is green, Shikamaru, yours in blue." she explained.

"Really?" Shikamaru asked. She nodded. "That's great!"

"Maybe there is a hope of your eyesight returning." Shino explained.

"What?" Kagami asked.

"Well, they say that if you lose one of your main senses, the ones that you have left become heightened to make up for the lost one." Shino explained.

"Oh, I see. So there's a chance that I could use, my hearing for example, to find people?" she asked. Shino made a noise signaling a yes. "Shikamaru, do me a favor. Clap for me until I tell you to stop." she said with thought in her voice. He looked at her like she was crazy, but clapped lightly. "If you expect me to try this out, you're going to have to clap a bit harder than that." she said with a smile. He clapped a bit harder.

"Sound waves maybe…" Shino said thinking.

"Yes. Shikamaru, I can see you. Just an outline of your body." she turned to Shino. "Shikamaru, stop. Shino start clapping as he was." she demanded. He did so. "I see that you don't have your headband on. May I ask why?" she asked with a smile.

"You mean you're using sound waves to see us?" Shikamaru asked when Shino stopped clapping.

"Yeah." she replied and smiled. "I can see you two!" she exclaimed standing up quickly.

§§§

**_I tried to use the effects from the movie _Daredevil_ in this chapter. I don't really know how people that are blind can actually see, so I used that movie and my own little theory with the lights that I described. What happened to you darkwater-reflection?_**


	7. Chapter VI

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: Yes, there is another time skip. Put it this way, the only thing they mainly did was go on missions, trained and Kagami got to know her team mates and new family better. You will notice a slight change in Kagami. Ever since she became blind (well, actually a few days after she accepted it), she became just about like Shino in the anime. She'll talk, but only to those that she really cares for. For your information, this takes place just before and during the Chunin exams.**_

§§§

_**A Lost Hope**_

Kagami woke to the sound of Shino talking to their father. They all did their sadness after he came back from that mission. It was a shock to him as much as what the Hokage said to her on that dreadful day. But now that it was all over, a new exam was starting soon. Tomorrow in fact. A new day was dawning and so was a new challenge waiting for her.

She sat up in her bed, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked toward the door. She could hear someone walking down the hall and stopped in front of her door. It opened and before the person could say anything, she spoke.

"Yes Shino?"

"You're really starting to creep me out with that knowing thing." he said with a smile in his voice.

"What did you want?" she asked again turning her head to the window nearby. The bird on the other side was letting her know it's presence by chirping gaily at her.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to meet up with your team and train before the exam. You know, show them how much you have excelled." he replied.

"Are they here?"

"Not yet, but they will be in a few hours to get you. I can say that you're sick or something if you want me to."

"No, it's okay. I'll go with them today. You know that I still prefer to train solo." she replied still looking out the window again. She didn't know why, but it seemed as if the outside world was calling her. Maybe it was just her.

Before she became blind, she used to love to go outside. Everything she needed was there. Friends, animals, everything. Just not that one person she knew could fill the void in her heart. Ever since she became blind, it had been hard enough to walk, let alone be in a relationship, so, she had to end it with Shikamaru. The good thing out of it was that they are still friends and they sometimes go on little play dates, which was really them just hanging out somewhere so they could be in each others company. Though, he became more of a brotherly figure to her afterwards, but it was okay. To tell the truth, she had been thinking about Gaara a lot since that day. What would he think of her now that she couldn't do anything? She felt as if she was loosing grip on reality. She would go back into the woods and talk to her 'friends' again. She managed to gain a few birds trust and they started landing on her shoulder or knee.

"Let me know when they get here. I still need to get dressed." she said and sent him out of the room after he spoke an 'okay' to change. Her attire was what she wore the day she became a genin; black tank top with a fishnet shirt over that, blue jeans and the same shoes that she wore days on end. She figured that she would be nice and get her hair out of her face today. She quickly brushed her brown locks and put them up in a quick-grasped hair tie. She then walked into the bathroom and brushed her teeth and walked out of her room.

As she approached the main room, she heard talking and the voices weren't that of Shino or her father. Deduction told her that it was either Akira, Naruto, or Shikamaru. She didn't know why Naruto came over all the time. It wasn't to talk to her, but sometimes he would tell her hello, sometimes not. She finally took the last couple of steps to see the light field around the new person. Orange, as she thought.

"What are you doing here Naruto?" she asked, her pale blue eyes on him.

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you would like to train with me today. I mean, there's no one in the village except people that I don't know all that good." he explained.

"Sorry. I told Akira that I would train with them." she said rubbing her hands together. Her ears perked up when she heard walking from outside. The knocking on the door was just to be polite, but she knew who the people were. Clear blue told her that it was Haru and fiery red just screamed Akira. "Some on in guys!" she said moving her gaze back to the orange aura. "Told you they would be here soon." she said and stood up. She didn't know this, but Naruto watched her as she walked to the door. It was as if she wasn't blind to begin with.

"Where are we headed to today?" Akira asked once she was at the door. She looked in one last time at Shino.

"Can you come get me before dinner?"

"Sure. Be there around six." he replied and went back to trying to get Naruto out of his home.

§§§

Once her, Akira and Haru reached the training grounds, they had a message for her. It was strange. They never gave her messages unless they were important.

"Remember a few months ago when you told us about the boy that you were raised with?" Akira asked looking at her.

"Yeah. Gaara, why?" she replied unsure of where he was going.

"Red hair, has the symbol of love on his forehead?" Haru butted in. She was still trying to get used to the fact that Haru spoke. I guess after six months, he finally started to trust her. She closed her eyes as if to remember. She opened them and said;

"What about him?"

Akira pulled out a picture from his pocket. She clapped so the sound waves would let her see the image.

"You know that some of the genin from other villages have already arrived to stay here right?" Akira asked. She nodded still looking at the picture. She couldn't make it out clearly, but she could see the symbol on his forehead. It was Gaara most defiantly.

"So, the first part last three days right?" she then asked.

"Yeah. And when they are over, we have the semi-finals, and then the finals." Haru replied.

"So this gives you time to search him out." Akira said.

"I bet he's still mad at me. I told him just a couple of days before I was taken away that I would never leave him." she said looking at the ground. She felt a hand be placed on her shoulder.

"I'm sure he's not mad at you. If you just tell him what happened, then he might understand." Akira said with his hand still on her shoulder. She looked up to him with pale blue eyes full of thought. She could tell him what really happened, but what would he do to her then? When they first met and she was engulfed in sand for those twenty seconds, he really hurt her, but she didn't tell him that.

"Have you seen him?" she asked.

"Not yet, but I'm sure that Naruto may run into him or someone from his team without knowing it until it's too late." Akira replied.

As if on cue, they heard Naruto's voice coming from the other side of the fence near them.

"Knew it." she said lightly, but walked to the around the fence to see Naruto facing someone dressed in a dark color. _That can't be him_ she thought as she glanced around. The aura didn't tell her that he was Gaara. Purple was his, but there was someone else with him. Pink. A female more than likely. She didn't know many males with a pink aura unless they were gay, and she didn't know any of those either. Thanks to Naruto for putting up a fuss, his sound waves were helping her find the one person she was looking for. Then she heard someone else speak. She didn't know where from for his voice was soft. But in his voice, she felt mystery, hatred and something else. What was it…? Loss…? No, that couldn't be it. If that was Gaara, he'd seen loss before and she knew that it wouldn't affect him this much.

"Stop, you're a disgrace to our village." the voice said. Naruto still trying to put up a fight with someone that he couldn't seem to find. He should be in her shoes if he was throwing a fit because he couldn't find this person. She stepped out from behind the fence cautiously.

"Naruto. Stop raising a fuss. It's not going to get you anywhere." she said sternly. Her main goal there was to shut him up long enough to hear the other person's voice again.

"I wouldn't be fussing is this guy," he stopped, she guessed to look for the forehead protector. "from the sand village wouldn't have came along when I was trying to fuss at Konohamaru." he finished.

_Does he mean Suna? _

"Don't be all mean about it. We have names you know." she heard a female say.

"Yeah. Her name's Temari and I'm Kankurou." the male that Naruto was trying to fight with said.

"And you need another guy in your team. Who is the guy in the tree?" Kagami asked still looking at the tree once she'd seen the guy. Naruto was smart, for once and didn't say anything to tell them that she couldn't really see who it was. She could only see his outline and it did look familiar. There was a silence.

"I'm leaving." a female voice said. Kagami guessed that it was Temari speaking and shrugged it off. She soon heard her footsteps walking into the distance. The male, Kankurou was still there, she could see him.

"Come on Gaara, we can't let her walk by herself." he said and turned to walk away. He stopped short and faced Naruto. "I will get you myself." he said and started walking again.

"Gaara…" Kagami said lightly. "After all these years, and to see that you've become bitter than before." she said looking at the man in the tree.

"Kagami…" the man in the tree said eyeing the person looking at him. "Can it really be you?" he asked in wonder and awe. He dropped down from the tree and landed on his feet. Putting on foot in front of the other, he made his way toward Kagami.

She watched the black aura walk toward her and her knees started to shake.

"Gaara…" she said lightly again. She felt someone grab her by her arm and pull her with them.

"We need to talk." the aura said sternly. She knew what it was about. She also knew that Gaara had recognized her.

§§§

She didn't know where he had drug her, but she knew that she was still in the village. Gaara's pacing let her know that he was distraught about something. His arms were crossed as they were not too long ago. She clapped to try and see his face, but all that got was a dirty look from him to her.

"And what are you so happy and sappy about?" he asked not meaning for it to come out as mean as it did.

"I'm just happy to see you again." he partly lied back. She couldn't see him and she knew that she may never have seen him again.

****"You left me." she heard him say. There was a silence for a moment. "After you told me that you wouldn't, you did." She could hear the anger in his voice as he spoke.

"I couldn't help it. It wasn't like I wanted to go. You know that. I wouldn't have said those things if I didn't mean them. I really wanted to stay. Gaara, I wanted to stay with you. You made me happy back then and I'm happy now to see you." she explained with her hand over her heart. She heard him sigh.

"If you really meant those things then you would've fought off whoever was taking you and ran back to me so that I could help you." he said and turned his back to her as if she was just something that he could mess with and then walk away without a care in the world.

"I really wish that I could see the look on your face right now." she said getting onto her knees. "I really meant those things. I wanted to stay with you, but… you know what happened. And on top of that, the Hokage of this village informed me that I have a family. I'm sure they will let you stay with us if you ask them nicely." she said looking up at him with hurt in her eyes.

He looked down at her eyes. The same blue as he remembered, but there was something new about them. "What do you mean that you wish that you could see the look on my face?" he asked still looking at her.

"Gaara, I can't see you at all. All I can see is your aura, and you have the same as me. I'm blind thanks to an acid attack on one of my missions." she replied not giving away which mission because she thought that he would think of her a weak and useless. "But I still remember you when we were kids. So lost and confused about things. You didn't have anyone left, so I made sure that I would be there until I couldn't. I'm sorry that I let you down. I'm sorry that I ruined our friendship." she said now looking down. He just looked at her with disbelief. "For the past six years, you are the only person I've thought about. I've gone on with my life, but you've been holding me back from doing a lot of things. I wanted to see you one last time before I left, but they wouldn't let me." she continued with tears streaming down her face now.

He walked up to her and placed his hands on each of her shoulders. He then helped her up and looked at her.

"If I could tell you how much I missed you, then it would take way to long to explain." he said looking into her eyes and now realizing that they were different. He rubbed her arms and finally succumbed to hugging her, just as he's wanted to do for what felt like a lifetime. He finally had her back, and this time, he wasn't letting her go without a say in the matter.

§§§

_**Yes, I know, that was SO NOT Gaara, but get over it. If you hadn't seen one of your friends in six years, I'm pretty sure that you would be with the hugging and talking like the world was ending as well. If you don't like it, get over it, if you do like it, thanks **_


	8. Chapter VII

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: WOW! It's been a while. To be honest, I forgot I had this story until a friend of mine was wondering what Naruto fics I had. Then I re-discovered it. So there was I was thinking 'I really need to work on this' so here I am Sorry about the long ass wait. I'm pretty sure that most of you have taken me off your favorites list and author alerts and all that jazz. COME BACK!!!**_

§§§

_**Everything Ends**_

§§§

Anticipation was building up to the breaking point as the combatants waited to see who would be fighting next. Everything was so silent as they waited that Kagami was sure that you could hear a pin drop if that were to happen. Just when the silence started to get to her, she heard the buzzing signaling that the next match-up was announced.

'Kagami Aburame and Shino Aburame.' the announcer said as dully as possible.

This wasn't the fight that she wanted to do. She did want to get it over with, but she didn't want to fight her brother at all. She knew what he was capable of.

She turned when she heard him walking toward her. She knew that he was going to help her down the stairs into the arena. She felt that she always needed help. She was never helping anyone else, everyone was always helping her. She shrugged off her pessimistic thoughts when she felt herself being led downward.

'The match will begin when I say.' she heard the announcer say over Shino's footsteps. Once she felt that she was ready, she positioned herself to attack, not that she wanted to. 'Begin!'

Only she didn't hear Shino moving. Kagami gathered up chakra and put up a shield to protect herself and thought about the situation for a moment. Once she finally heard Shino moving, she kept them inside her head. She was going to try her best to loose. She didn't want to win this and end up hurting Shino in the process.

She heaved a sigh and thrust forward to attack knowing that Shino would have his defenses up. And she was right. Shino easily blocked her attack, just like she knew he would and attacked back, sending her to the floor. Was he going easy on her because he knew about her disadvantage? She also knew that he's already fought once before and won, and she knew that he was capable of winning now, so why didn't he just take the win for himself? Whatever he was thinking, she wasn't going to just give up.

Kagami surrounded him inside a smoke field and attacked then, finally landing a punch and a kick in. But that also gave Shino enough time to plant an insect on her. She didn't care. She'd managed to whisper her plan into his ear before she punched him, so he knew what to do. She knew that he didn't want to do it, but she knew ways to provoke him to do it anyway.

Shino had just heard her whisper her plan into his ear. As much as he wanted to protest, he knew that she would eventually use up all her chakra as she was pretending to be ignorant when fighting, so he really didn't have a choice. He moved quickly. He summoned his insects to bring her to him, like she told him to do, and he would make the knock out there. He was going to feel bad about this later.

Kagami was in throbbing pain, which made everything stop. She blinked to try and make her vision focus, but that only made things brighter. She blinked a couple more times until she could see better. What was happening? She could see like she used to. Everything was clear, everything. She glanced around a couple of times to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. Spotting Gaara, however, she stopped. She felt her brothers insects carrying her to him and the whole time, but her eyes were on Gaara. He was still like he used to be. Dark circles around his eyes, everything she remembered was still there. With a slight smile on her face, everything went black.

'Shino advances.' the announcer said dully. Soon after, the medical nin came and took Kagami away into the hospital room nearby.

§§§

Once she felt the warmth of a blanket being pulled over her, Kagami woke up. It was bright at first, but then things seemed to get darker. So her being able to see wasn't permanent. She sighed in frustration once that had clicked in her head. It was going to be a long day.

'You okay?' she heard someone ask. It didn't take long for her to figure out that it was Shino. She knew why he was there beside her, and it wasn't the fact that she was family.

'I'm fine. Thanks for doing that.' she replied. As much as Kagami hurt, she was really grateful. When she entered the place, she thought she was ready to advance to be a Chunin, but all that faded to dust when she had to face Shino. She didn't want to go out on a mission as a Chunin and have to fight him.

'I didn't want to.' Shino replied sullenly. He was mad at himself and she knew it well. She didn't want to hurt him farther so she pretended to look out the window (not that she really could). 'I only did it because you asked me to.' he said after a couple minutes spent in silence.

'I know brother. I know.' she replied turning her face to him. 'You shouldn't feel bad about it though. It was my own choice. I wanted to quit.' she chuckled. 'To be blunt, I didn't even want to do this. I just went with it for Akira and Haru. They were the ones that made me go through with it, but I didn't mind. They promised me that I would have fun. But all that fun went away when I had to fight you.' she replied after gaining back her composure. She sighed and glanced at where she thought the door would be. 'Think you can get me out of here?' she asked while still looking at the door.

'Do you want me to ask someone or to sneak you out?' Shino asked.

'I'm sure Kakashi-sensi wouldn't care.' she replied putting on a sly grin. She didn't know Kakashi-sensi well, but she did know that he was really laid back about things, well, according to Naruto anyway. She heard Shino chuckle. 'What?' she asked starting to get agitated.

'Nothing.' he replied. She heard the chair scraping the floor and him standing up. As if on cue, someone walked into the room.

'Kagami, nothings seriously wrong so you may leave. You can go back to the arena if you like.' a man said sighing.

'Thank you sir.' Kagami replied and moved the blanket off of her with ease. She felt her way out of the small room and into the hallway where she leaned against the far wall and slid to the floor and hugged her knees. She knew that Shino would be following her soon so she tried to compose herself, but nothing happened. Once she felt a hand on her shoulder, she knew that it was too late and that Shino had seen her in her current condition. Only it wasn't Shino.

'Get over it. You'll be fine. I went through things like this when I was only four.' the voice said.

'Gaara?' she asked finally moving. He made a sound telling her 'yes', but other than that, he was quiet. 'Where did all that come from?' she asked.

'You try being alone for the twelve years of your life and six years into them, you meet someone that could possibly help you and then they leave without a word.' he said with anger rising in his voice.

'I already explained it to you! The Hokage ordered that. They thought just because my mother went here, this was where I belonged. It wasn't my fault!' Kagami snapped back. She felt the warmness from her eyes and she knew that she would be crying soon. She quickly got up and tried to run away, but Gaara took hold of her arm and wouldn't let go.

'Yashamaru was right. I was never loved and I never will be.' he said with regret coloring his voice.

'Gaara… You were loved at one time I'm sure. And as for me, I've always loved you. You're just too wrapped up in your self-centeredness to notice. Get it though your thick skull. I CARE FOR YOU! Is it that hard for you to understand that? Even though your uncle didn't love you, I'm sure someone did. And you know what! I was that someone.' Kagami retorted back while ignoring his voice. She shook back her arm and ran quickly away, leaving Gaara to watch her run.

'This has to be a lie. It always is.' he said quietly and walked away before Shino could come out of the room and 'welcome' him into their family.

§§§

Kagami didn't know how long she ran, but it felt as if her lungs were going to bust inside her just for a gram of air. She could hear water running from the nearby river so she guessed that she was near the forest where she normally went when she was upset.

She located a tree and sat under it and brought her knees up to her chin again, only this time, she let the tears flow. She felt horrible. She wanted to go home and pretend that all that just happened was a horrible dream, but she would never forget the tone in his voice. She knew that Gaara was mad at her before, but she didn't want to loose him as a friend. She cared too much for him to let that happen. She needed to go back and apologize, but she couldn't get herself to move. She decided that right now, she could cry and let it all out in the woods before she returned.

After a while, she finally got up. She'd calmed herself and she was feeling a bit better. She made her way nearby to the waters edge and sat down there. Feeling around for a rock, she sighed. Once she'd found one, she threw it into the water and listened for the _thump! _of it hitting the waters surface. From what she could remember about the water, anything that broke the surface would cause a raid of ripples on the surface and sent them in every direction. That's what she felt like at that moment. Like a river that just had its surface broken and the ripples of her emotions were being sent in every direction they could think of going.

Scanning what she thought to be the waters edge, she spotted a soft green aura. Kagami stood up quickly and wiped away the tear stains from her face. She watched at the aura slowly walked up to her and grab her wrist.

'Ow, Shino, that hurts.' she complained as she was dragged away from her spot. She felt the grip loosen, but she was still being taken away. 'Shino, let go of me. I can walk by myself.' she said trying to rip her arm free from its holder. Everytime she tugged to get free, the grip on her wrist got tighter and tighter. No matter how mad she was at Gaara for all that he said, she wished that he was there to help her, even if it was her own brother.

Then it clicked. Shino wouldn't do something like that to hurt her, so this person couldn't be Shino. Normally when Kagami asked her brother to stop something, he did unless he didn't hear her and then she said it with more force, but no matter how much she pleaded with this person, he wouldn't stop hurting her. Then she had an idea. What is she yelled for help? Someone she knew that she could trust? She laughed inwardly at that idea. The only person that she had on her mind was Gaara, and he was mad at her.

--But that was better than being dragged somewhere she didn't know by someone she couldn't see or know.

'Gaara!' she shouted loudly enough for the person dragging to stop slightly. When she only heard her echoes in the distance, she tried it again. Nothing. Echoes came rushing back to her as she called his name one last time. She knew that he wasn't going to come, and knowing that made tears well up in her eyes.

The person let go. She felt the water from the river hit her back and that was the last thing she remembered.


	9. Chapter VIII

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: There isn't one! I love my reviewers!**_

§§§

_**Of Flowers and Sand**_

§§§

**'I had nothing to do with her getting hurt!' **a voice yelled.

**'Yes you did. You hurt her emotionally and that's why she ran off like that.' **another voice said with anger coating his voice.

Voices rang out in her darkness bubble. Why wouldn't they just shut up and let her sleep? She put a pillow over her head to drown out the incessant bickering.

**'If you wouldn't have told her that then she wouldn't have ran off. Ultimately, you are the one that got her hurt. _You _made her run off. _You _made her feel horrible. _You _are the one responsible. If you aren't mature enough to handle the responsibility that you almost got my daughter killed then you are nothing to me.' **a new voice added in.

Who was yelling and why couldn't they just shut up and let her sleep?

Kagami moved her arm to feel for something to throw. She found something that felt like a vase and threw it whichever direction she could think of. The noise was coming from everywhere. The louder noise that followed told her that she'd hit something harder than expected. Everything went silent and she was grateful.

'Kagami, are you alright?' she heard someone ask and felt whoever was talking take her hand.

'Leave him alone. It was my fault. I let my emotions get the best of me.' she replied weakly. It hurt to talk, it hurt to even move now that she thought about it. She just wanted to go home.

'Well, Mr. Aburame, she will be fine. She just needs rest. Give her three days and if she doesn't feel better, bring her back to me.' a new voice said.

'Dad, what happened?' she asked despite the stabbing pain from her throat.

'We'll talk about it when we get home. And _he's _not coming. He has no right after what he did to you.' her father replied.

'I saved her from drowning. How can she know which was is up when she can't even see to begin with?' her 'savior' added.

Kagami felt warm tears filling her eyes once she thought back and remembered all that had happened before her black out.

'So you did save me even after--'

'Lie down. I'll get the nurse to bring me some release papers.' her father stopped her short. She heard her father leave the room, leaving her with Shino and Gaara.

She was sure that the two of them would end up fighting about something so she asked Shino to leave and explained that she wanted to talk to Gaara alone. After he left and was out of earshot did she start asking questions.

'Why did you save me?' she asked facing the ceiling. There was a grim silence before either of them spoke again.

'You took care of me when I was six. It was all I could do.' he replied, his voice still cold.

'When… when I was fighting my brother… I could see you.' Kagami said breaking the forbidden silence between them.

'Really?' Gaara asked back. She could tell that he didn't really care.

'Why are you being so coldhearted?' she asked slamming her hand down on the bed.

'Because you have no idea how it is for me and you're just playing everything off! You try to understand, but that only gets you hurt and I don't want that.' he replied.

'You… you don't want me getting hurt?' she said with wonder. She felt the bed dip down where he sat.

'No. I don't want to see anything on you hurt. I know that I hurt you a couple of hours ago, and I don't really know how to say sorry about that.' Gaara said somberly. Kagami was shocked to see such a change in him. He used to be so bitter and cold, now he was just… bitter. He'd changed, and she liked that. 'I found something to fight for.' he said suddenly making her jump slightly.

'What?' she asked. She was confused. What was he talking about? When they were both younger, she remembered him having a spurt of depression where he said that he would only fight for himself and love only himself, so what was he talking about here?

'I told you that I've found something to fight for.' he repeated. Gaara turned to face her confused look. 'You were the one that basically yelled it at me. What were your words? Oh yeah; 'I care for you!'. Wasn't that what you said?' he asked.

'Yeah but, I didn't think that you would get it. You seem to have a hard time accepting things like that.' Kagami replied still slightly confused.

'Well, I didn't find it hard to accept that.' Gaara said turning to face the window.

A bright light blinded Kagami more than she already was. She blinked and it started to dim, allowing her to see Gaara's face.

'Why are you looking so sad?' she asked once she could see him clearly.

'I almost lost the only person that cares for me. That's why I look sad. Knowing that she's alive lets me be happy with who I am.' he replied apparently not getting that she could see him. She chuckled.

'What's so funny?' he asked.

'It's nothing really. But I never thought that I would _see _you looking so sappy.' she replied hinting toward the fact that was hidden from him.

'You can see me again?' he asked shocked. She nodded, but was silent. 'Then let me show you something that I'd never show someone else.' he said. She watched as he leaned to her. The edges to everything melted away as his lips brushed against hers. Things blurred as he put his hand on her waist and pulled her closer. Everything was silent until…

'Kagami!'

Gaara jumped back as Kagami raised her hands to act like she was trying to push him away.

'What are you thinking? This person almost got you killed.' She turned to see the enraged face of her father with the release papers in his hand.

'Dad, please. If you understood the situation, you wouldn't be so mad.' Kagami tried to say.

'I don't care. That kid needs to get out of here so that we can take you home!' he father said, even more enraged than he already was. Kagami took one more glance at Gaara, who nodded and left without a word.

Shino knew something else was going on, but what was it exactly? Kagami had brought up someone like him a couple of times when he would attempt to know his sister better, but never anything like that. Was it love? No, that couldn't be it. He'd seen how that guy fought in the arena. He only fought for himself, like the world revolved around him.

'Dad, let her be. Let's get her home before you start accusing anything.' he said calmly. Mr. Aburame sighed, but let it go until they got home.

§§§

'Now please, tell me what happened.' he demanded once they were all sitting around the table. Kagami's eyes hadn't gone out on her yet, but she had a feeling they would soon. After she took a breath, she explained everything.

'So he was the one that you would frequently talk about when I was trying to get to know you more?' Shino asked. Kagami nodded.

'So it had been like that since childhood?' her father asked. She nodded again. Her father sighed. 'If you could see my face right now, you would see that I am really upset with you…'

_But I can see your face right now father. You just won't shut up long enough for me to tell you that. _she thought as her father rambled on. She wanted to escape. She wanted to go back to Suna, and that wasn't a place she thought about for a long time.

§§§

That night, Kagami packed enough items that would last her the few days walk to Suna into a small bag. She estimated about how far it would be and calculated that it would take her about five days if she went fast. She was ready to go within minutes.

As she started to make her way to the west exit, she noticed that someone was following her. She stopped long enough to find that person.

'I know it's you Shino.' she said calmly with her eyes closed. She heard him land from a tree behind her. 'You know what I'm doing don't you?' she asked. She heard him make a noise that told her 'yes'.

'I know that I can't stop you, but I want to come with you.' he said. 'I promised the Hokage that I would protect you.' he said again with regret in his voice.

'Well, this time I don't want to be protected. Just don't tell daddy for me okay?' she requested turning around and starting to run.

'Not without our say so in the matter.' a new voice added in. She heard two new footfalls telling her that two more people had joined the little powwow.

'Akira? Haru?' she asked. They too made the same noise as Shino did before.

'You're not leaving without us or your brother.' she heard Akira say.

'I need you to stay here. I'd much rather become a missing nin without you guys.' she replied as she was starting to feel regret. Haru and Akira were her best friends other than Shikamaru and Hinata, and Shino was her own brother, she would never forget him even if she didn't make it out of the Leaf Village.

'Do you love him?' Shino asked suddenly making her turn to face him.

'What?' she asked, shocked.

'Do you love him?' he asked again putting more emphasis on the question.

'Yes I do. With all my heart.' she replied. And it was the truth. She didn't want to leave him alone anymore. 'And that's why I have to go. I don't want him to end up like me.' she said, her voice unreadable of emotions and feelings.

Shino started to walk toward her, but stopped.

'You're different, you know that?' he said looking up to the moonlight sky.

'How so?' she asked getting annoyed with her time. She could have been done and gone already if it wasn't for this.

'Akira, Haru, leave. I want to talk to her on my own.' Shino ordered them. The other two nodded and left. 'You care about everyone, but you've got one person that you'll never let down. I see now that there in nothing I can do to stop you, so if you want to go, go. I won't tell anyone. But I _will _come back and get you whether you like it or not. Even if the next time we see each other, we are fighting one another, I'll know that you were and will always be my sister and that I will always love you.' he said grimly. He stopped moving once he was in front of her and threw his arms around her tightly.

Something wet hit her face as she felt her brothers arms go around her. She lifted her arm and realized that he was crying.

'I love you too brother. I always will.' she said, tears welling up of her own. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away. 'I'll come back. I promise.' she lied and ran away leaving Shino standing there looking at the moon.

§§§

**_What do you think of Kagami now!? AHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! dies comes back as spirit Look what you did now. You killed me. Lol. O really need more sleep._**


	10. Chapter IX

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: To the one who calls themselves 'Moon' : Yes, I know that there is still more to the Chunin exams, but if you remember, she didn't make it to the finals, so she doesn't really care. She just wants to help Gaara. Thanks for taking the time out of your day and reviewing **_

§§§

_**Unwanted Retrieval **_

§§§

Kagami knew that if she walked on the ground, that would get peoples attention to her, so she stuck to the trees that lined the countries. She still couldn't believe that she was traveling to a different country, let alone, by herself. But she felt better about herself. She was going to help the person that she cared about the most.

Her eyes had betrayed her about an hour ago, so she was going on sound waves, but they were hard to find. She would periodically find herself clapping to get them going again, just to let them stop when she needed them most.

She found it strange that he eyesight would come back for longer intervals at a time before it would diminish again and she would be surrounded by darkness once more. While it was there however, she would take in the sights that she missed to much. The beauty of the leaves, the flowers on the forest floor, and when there was a break in the trees, she could see for what looked like forever. If she wasn't running away, she would stay there and just gawk at the beauty of it all.

Kagami barely ate and she only did that when she felt like she couldn't go any longer without food. It was the same for sleep, but she felt tireless. Her determination was getting the best of her and she knew it, but she wasn't going to let her knowing get the best of her like her determination. She was going to make it to Suna, and she was going to see Gaara again.

§§§

Kagami stopped after a while to watch the sunset and to eat. She'd been going for three days, running off adrenaline to whole time. She calculated that she only had two more days to go, but she really doubted that. Her eyes, which were letting her see at the moment, were getting the best of her. She wanted to enjoy the sunset while she had it. She knew that a person only lives once.

She didn't light a fire because she knew that it would give away her position incase anyone was following her, which she knew they were. She sighed and threw down her apple core. She was tired of this game of cat and mouse.

'I knew you're there. Just come out already.' she said with an annoyed sigh at the end.

Rustlings from a nearby bush and footsteps told her that she was right. She looked up to see Kakashi-sensi and three other Jounin.

'What do you want?' she asked, irritated already with the fact that she was done with her food and wanted to leave.

'We came to take you back to the village.' Kakashi replied. Kagami stood up and dusted herself off. 'You're not going are you?' he asked.

'Nope. I want to go to Suna. Why can't I just go without people tracking me?' she asked.

'Because you're one of us. You belong with us.' one of the other Jounin's replied.

'You know, you sound like so freak cult and it seems like you want me to be the newest member.' Kagami said plastering on a cheap smile. 'I won't go.' she said again.

'The Hokage said to bring her back well, but that didn't mean with a few bumps and bruises here and there.' someone else said. Kagami sighed again.

'You're not coming back without a fight are you?' Kakashi asked. He watched as Kagami readied herself to fight all three of them. She wasn't going to back down. She didn't want to feel like a coward to herself, she wasn't going to live with something like that.

One quick movement and that's all that it took to bring her down.

'I have to admit, she was brave.' one of the Jounin said. Kakashi grunted in response and picked up Kagami carefully.

And there she was, surrounded in darkness once more.

§§§

Kagami woke to the sound of someone pacing. It was dark. Her eyesight had betrayed her again. She sighed.

'Are you okay?' she heard someone she couldn't place ask. They didn't seem very friendly, or worried if she was alive or anything.

'I'm fine. Who are you?' she asked irritable. She heard the other person sigh as well.

'I'm an ANBU member. The Hokage wants to see you.' the male replied.

'What does he want now? To inform me that what I did was wrong and ground me?' she replied sarcastically. She really didn't care what the Hokage was going to say. The only thing that she cared for about him was his personality.

'He does want to tell you something.' the male said, but Kagami thought that more was going to follow. 'But, he also wants to give you something.' he said again.

'Something else? What else can he give me? He's already given me a family.' she replied, shocked. The ANBU member chuckled, but took her hand and carefully led her to the Hokage's office.

----------

'I understand that you want to go to Suna. Is that correct?' the old man said once they were alone.

'Yes sir.' Kagami replied.

'But you left the village without any consent or protection. You don't know what's out there. And with your disability, I'd hate to see you in a couple of weeks if you were killed. I don't want to get that kind of news.' the Hokage said calmly. She knew what he was talking about, but he didn't know the extent of her abilities.

'I was fine for three days wasn't I?' she asked, anger coloring her voice.

'Yes, but, you went against your brothers wishes. And to me, that is the most horrible thing that you could do.' he said, still sounding calm. There was a silence between the two of them. 'Do you know how much you've upset your father and your team?' he asked.

'No.' she replied. Why was he giving her a guilt lecture. She knew perfectly well what she did was wrong. She didn't need an old man telling her that. She heard the Hokage sigh.

'You do know that the finals of the Chunin exams are in two weeks correct?' he asked. Kagami nodded. 'So you are aware that the three ninja from the Sand village are still here?' This time, Kagami shook her head. She didn't know that some of the ninja from other countries were still residing inside Konoha. 'I have talked to Mr. Baki, the sand ninja's trainer and he has agreed to let you join them back home, in two weeks, but on one condition.' the old man explained.

'And what would that be?' Kagami asked.

'Oh, nothing really. He has agreed to train you himself in order for you to try and become a Chunin in Suna. If you want to change your mind now, that is fine, but once you are in Suna, you can't come back for six months. If you don't make it to the Chunin level in six months, you will be sent back here and you will have to retake the academy with my grandson and his friends.' he explained.

'Thank you sir, really, but I'd rather retake the academy. I don't know Mr. Baki as much as I would like, and I would rather try and run away again. When was the last time that you got out of the village and actually saw the sunset?' she asked.

'It's been many years.' he replied closing his eyes in a pondering manner.

'Oh, it's beautiful. Something that you could never forget. You should go sometime.' she said putting on a smile just thinking about the two sunsets that she saw. Then she chuckled.

'What?' he asked.

'You didn't hear me correctly did you?' she asked. She was playing a game with him. 'I said; 'When was the last time you got out of the village and actually _saw _the sunset?' And yes, I did say 'saw'.' She said again. She heard the Hokage gasp once he'd realized what she'd said.

'You mean that you can see?' he asked.

'Well, not right now. But I'm working on it. My eyesight's been on the fritz since I had to fight Shino in the preliminaries. But now that I think about it, it's staying longer and longer every time I can see. Maybe my body is curing itself.' she explained.

'I don't know. Does anyone else know about this?' the Hokage asked with suspicion in his voice.

'Not anyone in this village. The only person that I hinted it to that I can recall is Gaara of the Sand.' she replied. 'Why?'

'It's true that we've never had a case like yours before, but still, I'm worried. Would you care if I allowed the medical nin to take a look at you?' he asked.

'Sure. If it'll help me then whatever you can think of would be great.' she replied.

'I'll send someone for you tomorrow around noon. Is that okay?' he asked. Kagami nodded. 'And when you leave, please tell the man outside to come in.' he then said, dismissing her.

She left after she told the ANBU member outside the room to go to the Hokage.

§§§

She walked in the streets for what felt like hours. As she passed the Ramen Shop and decided to help the owner and his daughter close up. She just didn't want to go home and face the truth tomorrow.


	11. Chapter X

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: AHHH!!!! There isn't one… I'm a kitty… MEOW!!! AHH!**_

§§§

_**Grey like a Storm Cloud/I Can See!/Shino Can't Cook**_

§§§

Kagami's eyes had allowed her to see the day before when she talked with the Hokage and the following day, so she took advantage of it. Before she had the meeting with the Hokage, she went to the market to buy some things for dinner that night. She was still tired from the day before however. Considering how late she finally got home, and her father sitting in a chair waiting for her, she was mentally and physically exhausted, but she knew that the only thing she had to do to get over that was to walk around and do something.

Whilst carefully holding her grocery bag and a stick of teriyaki chicken in the other, she made her way home. Thanks to the little stunt that she called 'Run Away to Suna to be with the Person that you Really Love', she'd gotten grounded until the Chunin exams were over, and she had to clean up the whole house after she got back from the meeting with the Hokage. She didn't mind though. It was worth it for what she'd seen.

She heard a cat meowing nearby, so she looked for the source. She chuckled at the small animal once she found it following her. It looked so small and frail, like a lonely soul just looking to be loved. She tore off a piece of her chicken and gave it to the animal, which in turn, gulped it down seemingly without chewing.

'Aren't you a hungry one?' she asked playfully while petting it. _It must just be some stray… Or a pet that someone didn't want so they left it on the streets… _she thought as she threw down another small piece. She walked to her house like that, sharing her food with a feline. She didn't mind at all.

§§§

'I'm home guys!' she called once she'd fished out her keys and finally got the door open. Her brother appeared from around the corner, probably coming from his room she thought.

'Who is your friend?' Shino asked.

'Huh?' she turned to see that the small cat had followed her inside. She chuckled. 'I don't know. She meowed at me and I gave her part of my chicken. I guess she just kept following.' Kagami explained. 'Think dad will let me keep her?' she then asked after a minute of watching Shino walk up to the feline and carefully examining it.

'I don't know. It wouldn't hurt to ask. You'd have to buy the food though.' he replied. 'Have you named her?' he then asked.

'Not yet. But I was thinking about Yori.' Kagami replied then bent down to face the cat. 'How does that sound little one?' she asked it. It meowed as a response and jumped onto her shoulder. 'Yori it is then.' she said with a smile.

'She's a grey as storm clouds, but she's sweet. Who would do that to her?' Shino asked petting Yori's head lightly.

'I don't know. Whoever it was, they didn't deserve her.' Kagami said digging through the bag and setting the items on the counter.

With the help of Shino, Kagami got the groceries put up fast and before she knew it, someone was knocking on their door for her. She was escorted to the Hokage's mansion by an ANBU member wearing a fox mask. The walk was silent, and he walked a bit fast for her, but she managed to keep up.

Once inside, her escort left her to do whatever it was that he did, to find the Hokage. Once she'd found the door, she knocked quietly and entered once she heard the okay to do so.

'How are you today Kagami?' the Hokage asked.

'I'm pretty good. You?' she replied trying to sound casual.

'Eh, could be better, but I'm good.' he responded as he waved his hand to bring someone in. 'This is Tatsumi. He will take you below the mansion and into the medical area. Please don't mess with anything.' the old man said as Tatsumi was taking her out of the room.

§§§

Kagami followed Tatsumi down three flights of stairs and past too many doors for her to count on one hand. It seemed endless. Everywhere she looked, there was a black abyss there. It felt as if nothing could penetrate the endless darkness, but she finally saw a light just when she was about to give up looking.

Once they were at the door, Tatsumi opened it and allowed her to enter first and then he followed and with the light _click _of the door, it was shut, cutting off her means of escape if necessary.

'Good afternoon Kagami. The Hokage told us that you would be here with us today.' someone said to her right. She glanced around the room in fear. She hated anything that dealt needles, and that meant rooms like this as well. Things around her went blurry and that was all she saw. Her vision failed her again, and she was thankful for that.

'If you will allow, I will take you to a bed and I want you to lie down.' someone else said. Apparently they knew that he vision could fail at anytime, but they didn't know that it already had.

Kagami felt someone taking her hand and she was led to the bed that the person told her about. She did as she was told by lying down. She felt someone place their hand on her forehead and that was the last thing that she remembered.

§§§

_The rain fell, just like it did on that day. Puddles danced, lightening flashed and thunder crashed, making a small, frail girl shudder like never before. For the two seconds that the sky was illuminated with light, tears could be seen running down the girl's face. Faster… faster… faster… More sobs, more cries._

_Years past, lives were taken. Everything was a blur to the girl. She was taking from her sandy home, and to a new, lush, green one. She couldn't get used to it. Everything was so green. She wanted to burn it down, or tear at the memory until she couldn't breathe anymore._

_She would always say that she was sorry. Sorry for what? No one knew._

_Hopes crushed, eyes burned._

_Her heart beating faster, faster, faster…_

§§§

'Are you okay Kagami?' she heard someone asked.

Kagami slowly opened her eyes. Everything was bright at first, but then it dimmed to where she could see clearly.

'I can see.' she said, flabbergasted. She heard a man chuckle.

'Yes you can. It was a simple operation. Turns out, there wasn't anything wrong with you. Your eyes were trying to fight the effect of the acid and was winning, but they would tire after a while, which explained your blindness after a while. We just sped up the process and helped your eyes.' the man explained.

'You don't know how thankful I am.' she said with a wide grin plastered to her face.

'Yes. You're welcome. But do us a favor, don't go near acid anymore. You see what it got you into last time.' the man said grinning. 'If you feel dizzy or faint at all, please go to the hospital. Tell them that the Hokage's medic team sent you and they should let you in. Someone from here will be there shortly afterwards.' the man explained. Kagami nodded and was helped off of the bed.

The man that had escorted her to the medic room was waiting outside. He still didn't talk as he was taking her back to the 'surface', as she would call it now, but he seemed friendly enough.

§§§

Once outside the mansion, the sun was bright. Really bright. Kagami had to shield her quivering eyes in order to see properly. Once she got used to it however, she took a step forward and made her way home.

Shino was waiting outside with Yori in his arms. The small feline jumped out of his arms, leaving Shino shocked, and ran up to Kagami and jumped on her shoulder.

'You are such a sweet thing!' she said gaily as she nestled her cheek on the cat.

'How did it go?' Shino asked. There was something about his voice that explained why he was outside. Despite his worry, he was afraid. Of what, she didn't know, but he was afraid nonetheless. Kagami sighed and prepared to explain the story.

Once she'd finished explaining all they done to her (that she could actually recall), they were inside and Shino was making something inside the kitchen.

'Well? What about your eyes?' he asked seeming impatient.

She sighed a fake sigh and replied, 'I'm blind forever now!'

--And despite her wanting it to be a joke, Shino took it seriously. She could see him running around the room, in and out of the kitchen, mumbling to himself about how unreliable doctors are, even the ones that treat the Hokage himself. He stopped when he heard Kagami laughing. Both Yori and Shino looked at her with strange looks on their faces.

'I was joking. I can see perfectly, and still hear the same as well.' she said, still laughing. Shino just looked at her funny while Yori started to bathe herself. 'I can't believe that you actually fell for that.' she said after a minute to regain her composure.

'Then I take back everything I said about the medic team of the Hokage.' Shino said and walked back into the kitchen. 'Man! I burnt it again!' he said from the kitchen. Curiosity got he better of her and Kagami went to check on him.

'What happened?' she asked form the doorway.

'I was trying to make supper, but this happened.' Shino explained holding up something black.

'What was it?' Kagami asked disgusted, but with a smile on her face.

'_This _was supposed to be part of lasagna, but you can see how that turned out.' he replied holding his nose in the air. Kagami sighed, but took a spatula from a drawer and prepared herself to teach Shino to cook.

§§§

It was a long process, but she finally got dinner made and into the oven. She sighed and licked the small spot of cream cheese and hamburger meat off her finger. What they had left of the hamburger meat, they fed to Yori in a small bowl.

'Where's dad? I haven't seen him around in a while.' Kagami asked cleaning up the spilt cream cheese and other foods that they used in the lasagna.

'He was called on a mission a couple of hours after you left. Since he was just being called as back-up, I'm sure he'll be home soon.' Shino replied putting a bowl into a sink full of steaming water. 'And that water is very hot.' he said jerking his hand back like something had snapped at it. Kagami snickered.

'It's the only way to get the food off.' she said and walked to the sink and casually put her hands inside and started washing the dishes. Yori had hopped up onto the counter and started playing with the bubbles that were in the sink. 'Did you like that Yori?' Kagami asked her feline companion. It meowed in response. She giggled at the small animal and continued washing dishes.

'How long until it's done?' Shino asked, making her stop washing and dry her hands. She turned to see him looking into the little window of the stove, bored.

Kagami bent over and looked into the stove, which helped very little. She told Shino to stand back and she opened the lid and looked intently. 'I'd give it fifteen more minutes. Think your grumbley in your tumbley can wait that long?' she asked with a smile while closing the oven. She heard Shino sigh.

'I've heard so much about your cooking skills from Hinata that I want to try it out myself. I think I'm wasting away…' he said putting on his own little theatrical performance. It was cute, but over dramatic.

'Ah, you'll live you big knucklehead.' Kagami said spraying Shino with a shower of soap suds playfully.

'Hey…,' he said. 'That wasn't fair. I don't have anything to fight back with.' he whined.

'Then don't. Sometimes you don't have to fight to win.' Kagami replied putting the fork and spoon into the dish drainer.

'What?'

'Vitality before violence. You play with fire, you get burned correct? Don't start anything, just remember to finish it. There is a story of someone, a group of people, who got in over their heads and lost. 'In vain glory they arose, shouting challenges at the gods. But prevail they did not, their doom it was to walk the mist until time's end.' And time never ends brother. The Nu Mou were doomed to walk the same path until time ended, and time is eternal. You try to get into a fight that you know that you can't win, you will walk the same path as the Nu Mou.' Kagami explained. Shino was silent. Yori meowing broke the silence that filled the room.

'I didn't know you could be so…. so wise.' he said, taken aback by her speech.

'Every older sister has it in them.' she said with a smile. 'Put this on your hand and take out the food, _carefully_.' Kagami said passing Shino an oven mitten. She watched as he carefully opened the oven and took out the food.

'Can we eat now?' he asked looking at the fresh, steaming food.

Kagami moved to a nearby cabinet and took out two plates and to another drawer and took out two forks and placed them in front of the large platter of lasagna. She made her way to another drawer and took out a clean spatula and carefully dug it into the food, making a square for Shino. 'You can now.' she said pushing the plate in front of him. 'And let me know if you like it.' she said leaning against the counter with her arms across her chest.

'Why aren't you eating?' Shino asked.

'A chef never eats before his, or her in my case, audience.' she replied. Shino looked at her funny, but stabbed his square of lasagna and popped it into his mouth.

'There are too many words to say about how good this is.' he said still chewing. Kagami smiled triumphantly and started to make herself a helping of dinner.

§§§

'_**Vanity before victory' and the 'In vain glory they arose…' was taken from the game Final Fantasy XII. They seemed to fit the situation. Thanks for reading.**_


	12. Chapter XI

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: No offence to Sakura and Ino fans. I just really hate them… with a passion.**_

§§§

_**Gaara's Hurt**_

§§§

The two weeks that Kagami had waited and dreamed for had finally come. Thanks to her operation two weeks before, she could actually watch the matches instead of hearing the details from someone like Sakura, or ever worse, Ino.

The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Too bad that the perfect scene was going to be ruined by battles of dignity and 'fate', as Neji Hyuuga called it. Kagami really wanted to teat Neji to his own medicine. He was just, down right rude to Hinata, and she was already having a self esteem problem.

Kagami quickly found an empty seat behind Hinata and her fellow teammate, Kiba. Little Akamaru was yipping away once she'd sat down. Then the cursed herself inwardly. She forgot to bring Yori. It was a good thing though. Dogs didn't really get along with cats.

'K-Kagami!' she heard Hinata exclaim gaily. Kagami threw on a smile at her friend. 'How are you?' Hinata then asked.

'I'm okay. I heard that Neji really got you. Are you well enough to be out here?' Kagami asked in return.

'It was nothing really. I've gotten my chakra back and everything's okay now.' the other female replied, still smiling.

'Our Hinata's gotten stronger since the last time you seen her. She even got up the courage to give Naruto ointment after our match together.' Kiba said turning to her. 'And you smell like a cat.' he said nonchalantly.

'Oh, sorry. Shino and I just recently got a cat. I meant to bring her, but I forgot. I guess it's okay. I don't think little Akamaru would enjoy that too much.' Kagami explained patting Akamaru's head. In return, he yipped happily.

'You've got to let me see her sometime.' Hinata said still smiling.

'Oh, it's starting.' Kiba said turning to face the arena with a look of impatience upon his face.

Kiba wasn't really a bad guy like Kagami thought he was. He was just strange, but once you got over that, he was really likeable.

§§§

Match one was Naruto against Neji, which ended with Naruto coming up out of the ground for the win. Hinata had gotten caught up in a coughing fit and passed out before she could see the person that she really cared for take the win. Kiba went to take her to the hospital, but an ANBU member took care of her there. Kiba had also told Kagami to stay there and let him know how everything else went. Match two was Sasuke against Gaara, but it was delayed because Sasuke wasn't present at that time. Kagami heard that the Hokage was thinking about giving the win to Gaara, but then changed his mind because 'this was the match that everyone was waiting for'. Match three was her brother against Kankurou with Shino winning because Kankurou forfeited.

There was a pause before each match began, as Kagami thought, to let someone talk to the Hokage about Sasuke's location. He decided to let it wait until after the last match which was really the only time that he could do it now. Temari was already in the arena waiting for Shikamaru and that was match four. It was a close call at the end when Shikamaru used his shadow binding and made Temari copy his every move. Kagami thought that Shikamaru was going to take the win, but he only told the judge that he was giving up because of his chakra level.

Everything was set for the last match that was supposed to come second. Kagami glanced around to see if Gaara was present, which he was, and then looked around for Sasuke. He still wasn't there. She then heard someone say that the Hokage had granted him ten minutes grace. If he didn't appear within ten minutes, the match winner would be Gaara.

Kagami wished that Sasuke wouldn't show up. Gaara deserved this moment in time. He deserved to win. After everything that he'd been through in his life, he deserved this moment. Just as the thought that however, Sasuke made his 'great' entrance with Kakashi-sensi. She knew that it was too good to last. She swore that she could heard Ino and Sakura nearby yelling at the top of their lungs about how handsome Sasuke was. Kagami would admit that he was a good looker, but he was too wrapped up in himself to care about anyone else. Too cold hearted, too distant from reality to see the people that care for him and to acknowledge it back himself.

The match itself was a blur to her. She would watch Gaara's side and see him start to struggle. When he went inside his cocoon of sand, she averted her eyes. She had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.

'Whoa. Did you see that?' she heard someone ask. She shot a quick glance to the arena to see that Sasuke had pierced Gaara's sand ball. She saw the ball melt back into useless sand, and the small, frail frame of Gaara holding his shoulder.

'Yeah. Sasuke got him good.' someone else said to her left.

'Shut up! Can't you see that he's hurt? I may be on my own way as a ninja, but I don't like seeing my friends hurt and then laughed at.' Kagami piped up to the talking duo. They turned to face her. One opened his mouth, but she quickly quieted them.

Before she could make another action, she felt sleepy.

_What is this… Genjutsu? _she thought quickly. She was getting more tired by the minute. Her mind was too scrambled to think of the way to release herself from it. She glanced around to see people falling to the spell one by one. Only the pink haired Sakura stood out. How was she not affected? She watched as Kakashi-sensi talked with Sakura for a brief second, and then she saw black.

She was awoken a couple minutes later by Sakura's voice.

'Kagami, come on. We've got a new mission.' she said quickly. 'Kakashi-sensi told me to wake you, Naruto and Shikamaru before leaving. You know how to cure someone from Genjutsu right?' she then explained.

'Yeah.' Kagami replied. Now that her head was clear, she could remember how to do it correctly.

Once they found Naruto and Shikamaru, Sakura told Kagami to take care of Naruto while she would fix Shikamaru. Everything was going fine and Naruto was awake when Sakura screamed and Shikamaru howled.

'I only pretended to be asleep because I didn't want to get involved.' Kagami heard him say.

'Orders from Kakashi-sensi. Get up and get over it.' Sakura said getting her breathing back under control.

'What's going on?' Naruto asked wearily.

'A new mission. We have to get Sasuke back to the village.' Sakura explained as she and the dog that she called Pakuun leapt from the stadium.

'A new mission!' Naruto exclaimed.

'Yeah. Celebrate later. Come on.' Kagami said following Sakura's lead.

§§§

Kagami was following Sakura and Pakuun, followed by Shikamaru and lastly, Naruto. Once again, everything was a blur. She wanted to go home, to Suna, and be with Gaara, or be in a warm bed with the covers throw over her head, but she knew that she couldn't do that.

She remembered passing her brother who was fighting someone clad in black that controlled puppets, and Shikamaru left to take care of a woman that had a giant fan. Kagami didn't know that the three people that made up Team Sand were siblings, and she didn't know who the other male and female were. But she did know that Shino and Shikamaru were capable of handling it without help. As much as she wanted to help, she knew that she would only be in the way.

_You two be careful. I don't know what would happen if I lost you guys…_

§§§

**_Wow, this chapter is short _**


	13. Chapter XII

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: Chapter title from the song 'Slipped Away' from Avril Lavigne.**_

§§§

_**Slipped Away**_

§§§

As Kagami's feet became rooted to the tree that she was standing in, she realized that the only thing she could do was watch as her childhood friend suffered. As much as she wanted to help him, her body refused to move. She watched as Naruto would speak to Gaara like he was a human being, trying to reason with him, and as Gaara would grasp his head in confusion. She would frequently look for Sakura, who was treating Sasuke from the earlier battle with him. She wasn't ready for this. She had to move.

Everything was still. She finally only felt herself moving, but other than that, nothing. Gaara was standing on a nearby tree limb holding his head when she finally got to him.

'Kagami, get out of there!' she heard Naruto yell. His voice was so far away. Why wasn't she hearing right?

'Gaara!' she called once she was close enough to him so that he could hear her. He turned to look at her confused. 'This isn't the Gaara that I know. This isn't what the Gaara that I know would do. The Gaara I know is kind and loving. He's nothing like what I see before my eyes.' she said with pain in her voice. The monster in front of her was motionless, like the old Gaara was trying to reach inside himself to remember her.

'Kagami, what are--' Naruto started.

'Shut up Naruto. Something's happening.' Sasuke said.

Gaara held his head. It hurt to think. Who was this girl standing in front of him? Why did she look so familiar?

'K-Kagami?' he finally said after searching his thoughts for a while. Kagami nodded. 'You… you left me!' he yelled, anger coursing through his voice. He raised his sandy arm, ready to attack her if she so much as moved wrong.

'I didn't leave you.' Kagami said calmly. She knew that they'd already had the same conversation days before, but she didn't know what to expect when he was like this. He threw his arm down, hitting her, but she stood her ground.

§§§

She felt the blood from her head trickle down her face, but she didn't care. She wanted to get the old Gaara back. Her vision burred, but it was all the same to her. She was used to the blurriness as well as the darkness.

'Gaara…' she started. She felt that it was getting hard to talk over the lump in her throat. 'When I met you, I was a small girl. Now look at me. I've got friends, like you do. You're not alone anymore. You never were with me thinking of you as much as I do. When you met me, you were as afraid as I was. You've grown strong. This isn't the person that I know. I know that the Gaara that I know and still care for is inside you somewhere.'

Kagami stepped back, finally letting the darkness take over her body. She felt herself falling…

Suddenly, she wasn't falling anymore. Everything was dark, but she welcomed it.

§§§

_I see now… that you've slipped away from everyone… even me…_

_**Wake up!**_

_What?_

_**You lazy bitch. Wake up.**_

_And now you are insulting me. Who are you?_

_**I'm part of you. I'll make myself known when I feel like it. Just wake up.**_

_Why do I have to listen to you? _

_**Just do it okay. You're starting to piss me off.**_

§§§

A bright light entered her vision. As Kagami looked into it, she saw all the people that she cared for. Shino, Hinata, and even Gaara, who she thought had finally slipped away. She felt someone take her hand. She had to be dead.

'Kagami…' she heard someone whisper. The persons voice seemed to be far away, miles away, if not light-years.

_I won't run away anymore…_

She slowly opened her eyes. At first, she thought that she was only dreaming, but when the throbbing pain started in her head, she knew that it wasn't so. She moved her hand to feel that her head had been bandaged up.

'Where am I?' she asked weakly.

'You're in the hospital… again…' she heard someone reply sarcastically. She looked for the source of the voice and quickly saw Kiba.

'What are you doing here?' she asked trying to sit up.

'Whoa! Take it easy.' he replied putting his hands on her shoulders. She laid back down. 'I was here with Hinata. That ANBU guy that helped her got someone to bring her here. When I was walking to see her, I saw you being carried in here. Let me tell you something. You looked _a lot _worse than her.' Kiba explained.

'Is she okay?' Kagami asked. Her caring nature wouldn't let her stop thinking about it now that he'd brought it up.

'Yeah, she's fine. The nurse said that she would get out tomorrow. Now you on the other hand, I don't know. The nurse that came in to check on you told me to get her once you woke up, so I'll be back.' he said and left the room. She was alone again.

'It's nice to see you awake Kagami.' someone said. She looked toward the door to see the smiling Kiba and the nurse that he was talking about. 'How are you feeling?' she asked.

'I'm okay. My head just hurts a little that's all.' Kagami replied.

'Well, I can see why. Well, it seems that you're doing okay. I'll just go inform the doctor and I'll be back with some medicine.' the nurse said. When she left the room, it was silent.

'Something else happened, didn't it?' Kagami asked looking at the ceiling. There was a silence before anyone spoke.

'Uh… yeah…' Kiba said looking down. Kagami looked at him carefully and saw that he actually had a frown on. 'The Hokage passed away.' he finally said.

Then she felt it. It was something that she hadn't felt for a long time; at least not as long as she'd left Suna. The empty void where a leader, no, more than a leader, a friend had been. Something was different about her now. Where she laid, she cupped her hands over her eyes and finally let everything out. Everything about Gaara, everything about not having a family for thirteen years, and most of all, the loss of a friend that reunited her with a loving father and brother.

She heard the door open and looked to see the nurse though teary eyes. The woman handed her the medicine and Kagami took it and quickly fell asleep, still crying.

§§§

Three days later, she was released from the hospital long enough to go to the Hokage's funeral. It was something that she didn't look forward to. Even the sky was crying.

As she watched everyone place their white roses upon the pedestal where the Hokage's picture was, she thought back about how kind he was. He did so much for her and everyone of the village. Just thinking about it made her want to cry more. Only when it started to get unbearable did she finally let her tears fall. She felt a hand fall on her shoulder. She looked up to see Shino standing there grimly. Since the doctor made her stay in a wheelchair, Shino rolled her to the pedestal and she placed her flower lightly and said a small prayer.

The rain stopped. Little Konohamaru was still crying while Iruka-sensi was trying to calm him down. Where was that small child to go? That she knew of, he didn't have any other family. She had a feeling that he wouldn't be graced with a pop up family like hers.

§§§

Once she was finally released from the hospital, she took a walk into the forest. According to the late Hokage, she was supposed to be going to Suna, but she doubted that now. The small blue bird that would frequently visit her came to her once again. She knew that she wasn't alone whenever she was here.

'Hey little Jay.' she said. She'd named the small bird Jay because he reminded her of a Blue Jay. That wasn't his species however. 'Can you send a message for me?' she asked it. It chirped in reply. 'Can you tell Gaara of the Desert in Suna to come see me?' she asked. It chirped again and flew off.

She stood up and slowly walked home.

§§§

Once she walked inside, Shino was sitting, actually sleeping, in the recliner. She patted his shoulder and helped him to his room. He hadn't been getting much sleep recently about something that he refused to talk about. Yori had hopped up onto the chair after Shino had stood up because of the warmth and dozed off himself. The house was silent. Everyone had changed since the Hokage died, even her. She didn't feel as happy as she used to. She felt more unemotional than anything, like nothing could effect her shell.

She walked to the bookshelf and picked up a book called _Needful Things _from Stephen King. She'd heard from some people that it was supposed to be a good book, so she went to the bookstore and picked it out. She moved Yori, who hopped right back on her lap once she sat down, and read the first couple of chapters. It was a strange one, but it was good. She stopped when she heard someone at the door.

Still holding her book, she answered it. She was shocked to see Akira and Haru standing there.

'Can we come in?' Akira asked. Kagami nodded.

'Be quiet though. Shino's taking a nap.' she informed them. They nodded in response.

'How have you been?' Akira asked.

'I've been okay. Stressed, but okay.' she replied. 'You?'

'About the same. Did you hear about the choice for the fifth Hokage?' Akira asked.

'No. Who is he?' Kagami replied.

'Well, that's the reason they haven't let you leave yet. They are trying to find _her._' Akira replied.

'Her? It's going to a female?' she asked, shocked.

'Yes.' Haru responded.

'After a year of being in your team, I still haven't gotten used to you talking yet.' she said jokingly. He was silent again.

'I heard that she's really strong.' Akira said.

'If you just came here to gloat about the new Hokage, then leave. I've got to make dinner soon.' she said, annoyed.

'Well, that's not it. The Hokage's medical unit wanted to see you about something.' Akira said. 'They said something about a power hidden inside you that they found when you had your operation.' he explained.

'When do I meet them?' she asked.

'Tomorrow at noon.' Haru said. Kagami nodded and they stood up.

'Well, we've got more messages to deliver. We'll see you soon. Tell us what they want.' Akira said.

Kagami nodded and walked them out.

§§§

After she'd made dinner and ate, Kagami went to her room. Yori had followed her without her knowing so she was shocked to hear the small anime meowing at the foot of her bed. She started thinking about that day when she was facing Gaara. He seemed to different, but the same as well. The hate in his eyes, it seemed to burn into himself, deep down.

'He's slipped away from Yori and I don't think I can get him back now…' she said finally letting her tears flow. Yori meowed at her and licked her cheek where a tear had fallen.

'It's okay.' she seemed to say to her. 'Everything will be okay.'

§§§

_**Who was that person/thing that was talking to Kagami when she was in the hospital? Stay tuned to find out!**_


	14. Chapter XIII

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: I'm a kitty!!**_

§§§

_**Inner Demons**_

§§§

Knocking was what woke Kagami up. Before she even thought about getting out of bed, she glanced at the clock.

'Who wants inside this house bad enough to wake me up at seven o' clock in the freaking morning?' she grumbled. She sighed and threw the blanket off of her and stretched. After wrapping a robe around her, she made her way to the door, which seemed as if it was going to break down by the force of the knocking. She opened it, ready to glare at the person knocking.

'Did I come too early?' Akira asked putting his hands up and a worried smile on his face.

'It's seven in the morning. What do you think?' she asked angrily. She sighed again and walked back into the living room where she planted herself in a chair. 'What do you want with me this early?' she asked trying her best to comb her hair with her fingers.

'I came to get you for the medical nin.' Akira replied.

'At seven in the morning? Shino isn't even awake and he's the one that wakes me up around ten.' she said as she stopped messing with her hair.

'Well, I was actually kinda hoping that I could take you to breakfast before you went for the checkup.' the male said. Kagami sighed.

'Your attempts at flirting are horrible.' she said playfully. 'But I'll go anyway.' she then added. 'Wait here and let me get changed into something that I could wear outside. I'm certainly not going to eat in a bathrobe.' she said and left the room.

She returned a few minutes later wearing a black long sleeve shirt with black pants. Her shoes had changed from the normal blue to black, to match her apparel Akira guessed.

'Ready to go?' Akira asked. Kagami smiled and nodded.

§§§

They ate at the local ramen shop where Kagami was surprised that it was open for it being so early. Some small talk was exchanged, but mainly, the two were silent. Because of that, they quickly finished eating and made their way to the training ground.

'I wasn't flirting.' Akira stated once they arrived.

'Sure you weren't.' Kagami replied sitting down and leaning against a tree.

'If you want to see flirting, you should see Naruto when Sakura is around.' the male said putting on a smile. This caused Kagami to laugh loudly. Once she composed herself, she said;

'You're right.'

There was another silence before either of them spoke again.

**_This guy is driving me nuts!_**

'Did you hear that?' Kagami asked as she turned to look at Akira. He shook his head and she frowned. 'I'm going crazy then.' she said sarcastically.

The two watched as people would come and train, then leave them be. Hinata came, but had to leave quickly before Neji found her. Something was going on tonight at the Hyuuga household and Hinata had to get ready. Before they knew it, someone had come to pick up Kagami for her checkup.

'See you later.' Akira said as she walked away. She turned and waved quickly before she was picked up and taken to the Hokage's mansion.

§§§

The room was just the way she remembered it. Dark and creepy. The men had taken away the hospital equipment, thankfully, so she knew that she wasn't getting another operation. Before she made her way to the room, there was still that long hallway. Once again, it seemed like it took years just to get to the door that led to the actual room where they would be checking her.

'I want you to lie down and make yourself comfortable. We're just doing something small, so it shouldn't hurt.' the man from before said. Kagami nodded and did as she was told.

She watched as the man put his hand on her forehead. Her eye lids became heavy and she finally succumbed to the weariness that she didn't know she had.

**_What are these people doing to me?_**

_What are you asking me for? Just make yourself known to them so that I can go home. I've got other things to do than lie here you know._

_**Shut up woman. You have no say in what I do.**_

_What are you talking about? I don't even know who you are and just a couple days ago, you were the one that was forcing me to wake up. So why can't I order you around like you do me?_

_**Because I hole more authority than you.**_

There was another brightness before Kagami's eyes opened again.

'What happened?' she asked. She felt as if she'd been hit by a large truck, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from finding out what they knew.

'Well, like Naruto and Gaara both, you seem to have a wolf demon inside of you. Which was something that we were afraid of. We had speculation from the operation that you had not too long ago, but we weren't sure.' the man said calmly.

'What does it want?' she asked. She started to shake before she could get an answer.

'Well… we don't know exactly. But from what we can see is that it is slowly draining your life force.' the man said apprehensively.

Kagami felt as if she had already died. That _thing _inside her was killing her? So it just wanted her dead? What did it mean? Was there some way that someone could help her?

'It wants me… dead…?' she asked. She was terrified. So she was going to be put into an early grave by something inside her.

'Well, if you get it to trust you, it may let you live so that it can see the world through you. But there is no way that we can take it away without killing you in the process..' the doctor said fearful of her lashing out at him.

'So, you mean to tell me that the thing that has been talking to me recently is a demon wolf and it wants me dead?' she asked, trying to get her facts straight.

'Well, so far, yes. And what do you mean that you've talk to it?' he asked.

'Well, it mainly only happens when I'm sleeping, which is why I don't sleep very well… not that I ever did in the first place. When I was in the hospital last week, someone was shouting at me to wake up. Insulting me and everything. It said that I was getting him mad and I don't even know who it was. When I woke up though, I saw Kiba sitting there.' Kagami explained.

'I see. Since it's talked to you, from what I can see, it wants you to suffer. How, we don't know. Tell me something. Did you ever feel stronger when you were on a mission?' the man asked.

'Not re-- Actually, yes I have. But it wasn't on a mission. When I ran away to get to Suna, which was a failure by the way, I felt like I could take on the world. I would actually stay up for days before I needed to sleep. It was the same with eating. I never felt hungry. I just thought that it was adrenaline.' Kagami explained.

'Well, now that you said that, it either wants to use you for something, or it just wants to tire you out. Either way, it's still draining your life force. If we could take it out of you, we would need someone who knows a lot about something like this, and there is no one in Konoha that's that old. The technique that I'm talking about would kill the person that tries it.' the man explained.

'Well, I guess I'm doomed then. I don't want to kill someone just to let myself live.' she said hopelessly. 'If you find anything else out, please let me know.' she said as she got off the bed. She walked out of the room with her head facing the floor.

§§§

**_Those men know nothing about me. They tell you that I'm trying to kill you--_**

_Aren't you?_

_**Why no. Why would I do something like that to the person that is housing me?**_

_I don't know. So that you could maybe try and destroy everything in your path?_

_**No, it's nothing like that. I just want to be free, that's all.**_

_Well, you heard the man. I'd have to get someone to die for me, which I'm **not **going to do._

_**Oh, defensive are we? You care too much for these weaklings for my liking.**_

_Well, if you'd lived out here, you'd probably care for them as well. People get attached to people. It happens._

_**Whatever. These people mean nothing to me.**_

And that was that. That was the last time that she talked with the demon inside her for a while. She realized that once she'd giving him that speech, he let her sleep like a normal person. Everything seemed to be doing fine.

A lot of things had happened before she left for Suna. Sasuke and Naruto had battled, which caused Sasuke to run away to a man named Orochimaru. To be blunt, she didn't care. She wasn't one of the obsessive-compulsive females that just wanted him because he was a stud. To Kagami, he seemed to be a jerk, which was why the never really talked unless they had to.

But all that was before she went to Suna. Now that she finally got the chance, she was ready to leave her leafy prison and go back to her real home… with Gaara.

§§§

'Well, Shino, dad, I'll see you later. I'll write to you whenever I can.' Kagami said as people packed her belongings into a carriage. She was finally headed to Suna, and she was actually happy. When she found out that the demon inside her was slowly trying to kill her, she'd been in fits of depression. She was so upset that she would actually lash out at Shino, her father and even Shikamaru, who was just trying to help her cope. They understood, thankfully, and let her do it. She was punished by her father, but it was better than letting her bottle it up and let it all out in one explosive manner.

'Bye sis.' Shino said as he walked up to her and gave her a hug. She hugged him back lightly. Her father walked up to her as well and gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek. He understood the meaning of her leaving.

'I love you guys. I'll see you later.' she said and hopped into the carriage.

The carriage started to leave and Kagami put half her body out of the window just to wave bye. They didn't know how much she was going to miss them, but she would find ways to visit. She was only going to six months, just long enough to train and try and become a Chunin before she came back home.

§§§

She'd dozed inside the carriage. It seemed to take much longer that it was when she ran away, but she didn't mind waiting.

'How much longer?' she'd ask with anticipation.

'Once more and I'll stop and turn around and take you back to Konoha.' the driver would say. He never did though. This man was just old and cranky, like most old people trying to drive a carriage with a young female inside. He just wanted to go home probably.

Kagami sighed every time she would get this remark, which in turn made the driver go slower. She decided to stop and just take advantage of the wait. She sleep, eat, and sometimes talk to herself, which drove the driver mad. He eventually got used to it.

Once they'd gotten close enough to where Kagami could see the walls of Suna, she started to cough.

'Miss, are you okay?' the driver would ask, but Kagami would keep coughing. Once he'd realized that something was seriously wrong, he sped up the carriage and made his way quickly to Suna.

Kagami would cough more and more, until she felt something wet on her hand. She pulled it away long enough to look. What she saw horrified her. She was coughing up blood.

'Hurry… up…' she said and started to cough again. She eventually tired herself out and passed out before the old man could get her to the hospital.

§§§

_**And the demon says he doesn't want her dead. YEAH RIGHT!**_


	15. Chapter XIV

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**_

_**A/N: Kagami seems to have a lot going wrong with her ne? Thanks for reviewing Moon!**_

_**A/N 2: Curse writers block!**_

§§§

_**In the Village of Sand **_

§§§

'Is she going to be alright?' a tall, blonde haired woman asked.

'She will be. She just needs rest.' a deep voiced man replied. 'It appears that she's sick with something at the moment. Just give her a couple of days and call me and I'll be back.' the man explained.

'Okay. See you soon Dr. Hoshi.' the woman said. She heaved a sigh before leaving the room to report to her youngest brother about the other woman's condition. Before she could do that however, the older of her brothers came barging into the room. 'Don't you know how to knock? What if I was changing?!' she scolded him.

'That wouldn't be a good sight for me to see.' he said, which got him and evil glare from the female. 'Sorry Temari. I just came to see if she was okay. You know how Gaara is about _certain _people.' the male said after she'd stopped glaring.

'Seriously Kankurou, you really need to knock.' the woman, Temari, said. 'Hoshi said that she would be okay. She just needs to rest.' she repeated. 'Wait,' she started. 'If Gaara really cares so much for this weakling, why isn't he here to see her himself?' she asked.

'That's the thing. He told me that he didn't want him to be the first thing she saw when she wakes up.' Kankurou replied. Temari gave him a questioning look before he spoke again. 'Don't ask me why. If you're that nosey, go ask him. He's on the roof.' he said.

'Are you going to stay here with her incase she wakes up?' Temari asked. Kankurou chuckled.

'Why would I do something like that?' he asked. The female sighed.

'What's the point in asking why. You know how Gaara would be if I told him that you refused to stay with her.' she scolded. 'Look, I don't like the way things are going either, but Gaara could easily kill us both if you or I didn't comply to his wishes.' she reminded the young puppet master. Kankurou chuckled cautiously .

'Good point.' he said heaving a sigh. 'I'll stay with her, but don't expect this to be permanent.' he then said as she was leaving the room.

§§§

Kankurou eyed the sleeping female. What was so special about her that made Gaara go all goo-goo eyed whenever she was around? He thought back to just before the Chunin exams began. Gaara seemed to know the woman from sometime, and something really struck a chord in him when he put his cold eyes upon her. The puppet master sighed. He would never figure out his brother, even if he tried his hardest.

Kagami's eyes opened fast and she shot up like something was chasing her in her dreams. The room that she spied was like the color of sand, tan. A few pictures were hung on the walls showing faces of the past. A small boy with brown hair and a little girl, just a bit taller than the boy with blonde hair up in four pigtails.

'Ah, nice to see that you finally woke up.' someone said dully. She gathered a bit of smoke in her hand, ready to attack the person if he came close. 'Whoa, watch it. I'm here on behalf of Gaara.' the male said again.

'Gaara…?' she asked finding the man sitting backwards in a chair nearby. 'So I'm really in Suna?' she asked. The man sighed.

'No, you're in the snow capital. Look out the window stupid.' he said uninterested while still adding a bit of sarcasm to his voice.

Before she looked out the window, which wasn't really what she wanted to do since this man mentioned Gaara's name, she took him in. It was strange to see someone dressed like this guy in the desert. He was dressed in a black body suit, but in the middle of where a shirt would be, there was a circle outlined in white and inside of that, there were two semi-circles, each a different color which were tan and dark red. He had on his head what looked like a hat with cat ears, also matching his outfit. On his face, he had thick, dark purple lines lining his lips, followed by a small space before it was on his chin. Moreover, it was on his cheeks, where they seemed to be lining his cheekbones and above his eyes like eye shadow. This man was strange.

Once she finally got enough of looking at him, she glanced to the window. There seemed to be a small sand storm going on; either that, or it was just windy. Kagami smiled, a real smile. She was home, and it was just the way that she remembered. She turned to face the man, but stopped short before she spoke.

'It's rude to stare you know.' she said, agitated. First this strange person criticizes her and now he's staring at her.

'Sorry. I'm just trying to figure out what Gaara sees in you. You don't seem special at all.' he scoffed.

'And this is coming from the guy that has make-up on his face. And better yet, the make-up is purple.' she said, rolling her eyes as she spoke.

'Why you!' the male said angrily. He stood up and clenched his hands into a fist and was ready to attack her.

'Kankurou, stop. You're acting like a child who just got his teddy bear taken away.' a female voice said.

The male, who had been named Kankurou, turned to face the woman standing at the door. This woman had to be the same person in the picture, Kagami thought as she look at her.

'She's traveled a long way. The least you could do is make her feel at home.' she said. She stepped forward to the man and pushed him out of the room. Once he was gone, she sighed. 'Brothers…' she said hopelessly. She then turned her attention to Kagami. 'I'm sorry that he was like that. He's been like that for years. You just learn to get used to it. My name is Temari.' the woman said outstretching her arm.

'Kagami Aburame.' Kagami said and took her hand and shook it lightly.

'I must admit, you were brave to say that. Not many people tell that to Kankurou and leave unscathed.' she said chuckling.

'Why does he wear that?' Kagami asked remembering the picture that she saw of him where his face was clean.

'Who knows.' Temari replied. 'On to more important things.' she said moving to the chair that Kankurou was sitting in. 'You must feel dirty still wearing that. When you got here, you were sweating like a stuck pig. If you want, you can follow me to my room and I can give you something that'd fit and be fresh.' she offered.

'Thanks.' Kagami said and stood up, but stumbled back onto the couch that she was lying on.

'Take it easy will you. I don't want to be the one blamed for you getting hurt.' the other female said. Kagami nodded and stood up slowly this time. 'You're going to be a handful, I can see that now.' Temari said under her breath.

§§§

Temari's room was different compared to the rest of the house. Her walls were an off white color with a boarder of intricate design near the floor. She also had a bathroom in her room, which was helpful to Kagami. Her room was also carpeted. Kagami watched as the female walked to her closet and looked in. She would frequently look at Kagami, but she would soon dive back into her clothes.

'This should fit you, but it may be a little big. It's more of a nightgown than out-in-the-street wear.' Temari said handing her a pair of shorts and a shirt. 'Towels are in the bathroom if you decide to take a shower.

'Thank you Temari.' Kagami said reluctantly. She watched as the woman left the room.

Once Kagami knew she was gone, she made her way to the bathroom. The bathroom reminded her of her own. It was just about the same, with the light blue walls. Only the counter was different. Where Kagami had a light green (and we're talking really light) tile counter, Temari had a light pink tiled one. It was like they had the same interior decorator. She chuckled at the thought.

Once she'd figured out how to work the shower and got it to her desired temperature, she shed her clothes, which she now realized that they were like a second skin from the sweating that she'd done and shyly stepped into the foreign shower. And it was then that she realized how depressed she really was. She had a wolf demon inside of her for God only knows how long and it wanted her dead. She soon found herself on the shower floor hugging her knees and just letting the water hit and slide down her fragile body.

**_You're stronger than I gave you credit for. I'm sorry for that._**

_You sorry? I highly doubt that._

**_I am. Let us make a deal._**

_A deal? Of what? I fill Temari's sink up with water and see how long I can hold my breath before passing out?_

**_No. Nothing like that._**

_But you want me dead._

**_I beg to differ. I _wanted_ you dead. In a year, come find me. If you don't find me, then I will kill you from the inside._**

_How am I supposed to make a deal with that kind of bargain?_

**_You'll find me. Have faith in yourself._**

_How can I have faith in myself now that I know that there is a demon inside of me that wants me dead._

_**I've already told you that I've changed my mind. I don't want you dead, **_**yet._ If you say that one more time, I will kill you here and now._**

_Okay, okay. Can I ask you a question?_

_**You just did smart ass. What else do you want to know?**_

_How long have you been inside me?_

_**Since your parents died. The person that you ran away from when you were two put me inside you. Do you remember?**_

_Not really._

_**Well it happened. Just hurry and wash yourself and go see your precious friend.**_

With her last words, Kagami stood up carefully and finally washed herself.

§§§

Just as she was pulling on the shirt that Temari had given her, she heard people outside in her room. Their voices were hushed, but she did her best to listen.

'Gaara really cares for the girl, so we have to treat her kindly. She's only here for six months. I'm sure that you and I both can make it through.' a female said. That had to be Temari.

'But she really pissed me off earlier. I didn't like her from the first time that I saw her. She looked… strange…' another voice said. That had to be Kankurou.

'From what I've heard Gaara saying about her, and don't tell him that I know, she's changed a lot since then. When you first looked at her, she was blind. But now her vision has been coming back.' Temari said. Kagami thought that it was time that she put an end to their talking.

'And I got an operation and I can see fine now.' she said walking out of the bathroom. The two inside the room looked at her. Kagami sighed. 'It's rude to stare.' she said. She started getting a sense of déjà vu. She's said that before.

'Well, now that you're out, Gaara said that he wanted to talk to you once you got done.' Temari said. 'Kankurou, take her to him. I've got to do something else.' she said. Kankurou whined, but Temari won.

'I told you it wasn't going to be permanent and you want to make it that way.' he whined after it was resolved.

'Just take her to him. You don't want to deal with me either.' she said and pushed him out of the room once more. The last thing that Kagami heard Temari saying was something about dinner.

§§§

_**So the wolf doesn't want her dead? Right… I'll be updating soon hopefully. I still hate writers block.**_


	16. Chapter XV

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.  
**__**A/N: To answer your question Moon, the two demons can sense each other. You'll find out more about it in this chapter. And the reason why Temari and Kankurou don't like her yet is because they are afraid of what she can do; and to Gaara as well. See, he's never been 'in' love if you know what I mean. So they just don't know what to expect from this new emotion occurring inside of him.**_

§§§

_**May Angels Lead You In **_

§§§

They passed many rooms in which the doors were closed before they finally got to their destination. Once they were there however, Kankurou escaped apparently as fast as his legs would take him. This left Kagami confused. She'd found out just minutes before that the other two of the siblings' acting skills were great, but did that mean that Gaara was acting as well? She didn't like the way things were turning out.

'Come on in Kagami.' a voice on the other side of the door said, making her jump ­slightly from the broken silence. She twisted the doorknob and slowly walked inside.

The inside of the room was much different from the way the hallway looked. The walls were tan, like the room that she'd woken up in, but the difference was a huge desk in the middle of the room. There were a few books of many sorts scattered upon the desk that the red head was apparently ignoring.

'How have you been?' he asked without turning from looking out the window directly behind the desk.

'Good as I can get.' she lied. She didn't want him knowing about the demon inside of her. 'I'm happy to be here.' she then said because of silence once more.

'I'm happy that you're here.' he said finally turning to her. There was a look of something unreadable on his face, and his eyes weren't their usual cold tone. Something in his eyes pleased her. 'I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you woke up.' he then said.

'No, it's fine. You were probably just busy.' Kagami replied. She did feel upset that he wasn't there, but that was something that she could overlook.

'Actually, I was thinking.' he said. It sounded more if he was talking to himself than anything else.

'About?' she asked. Now that he'd said something, she was curious.

'Lots of things really. If I told you all of what I thought about, then it would take too long. I'm sure you're tired. I just wanted to see you before you went to bed, that's all.' he replied. Something was bugging at him and he wasn't going to tell Kagami what is was.

She chuckled. 'I've slept enough today.' she said holding her arms out wide. 'Look, I'm fine.' she then said putting them down carelessly. Gaara would have bought her skit if hadn't yawned.

'Told you. You're tired.' he said putting on a smirk.

'Okay, you win. I am a bit tired.' she replied raising her hands as if she was surrendering. She quickly moved her hand to cover her mouth as she coughed.

'You okay?' Gaara asked putting a tone of care into his voice.

'Yeah.' she replied once she'd finished and grasped her chest lightly. 'I did that before I got here as well, but it was worse then.' she explained.

'I know. You arrived and your mouth was lined with blood. I was actually worried.' he said. It felt strange to him to say that he was worried about someone. He'd never cared for someone as much as he did to the person standing in front of him. It was crazy. 'You go get some rest. I'll wake you in the morning. I'll get Temari to get you a room.' he said calmly.

Kagami watched him walk to the door and yell for his sister. It seemed as if they were going to end up fighting about something or another, so Gaara stepped out of the room and shut the door. She heard many things she didn't think Gaara would even think about saying. Maybe this was his other side that he rarely showed around her. She stared at the door until he came back in.

'Eh, don't mind that. She'll get you a room.' he said sounding somewhat shaken. Was her wrath that bad? She thought, which caused her to chuckle. 'What's so funny?' he then asked.

'Nothing. It's just that I never saw you as one to actually yell. Well… unless you were really mad,' she said remembering that day of the Chunin exams. 'but other than that, never.' she finished.

'When you live with these two, it tends to happen.' he confessed. She smirked as Temari entered the room.

'Follow me and I'll show you to your room.' she said after she sighed. Kankurou did something again and Gaara could tell.

'What did he do this time?' he asked.

'Cause a fuss. What else?' Temari replied to her youngest brother. 'He seems to be doing that a lot.' she then said. She heard Gaara sigh.

'Just show her to her room and I'll talk to him.' he said.

'Just don't kick his ass this time okay?' the other female said. Gaara nodded. Apparently there was something behind the small family that Kagami hadn't grasped yet. She would soon enough understand what they were talking about.

§§§

The room that Gaara had Temari show Kagami was beautiful. Its walls were a light purple with a small light pink boarder in the middle of the wall along with royal blue carpet. It was breathtaking to Kagami. Her old room couldn't compare, and she liked her old one as well. The bathroom was inside her room, like Temari's was. The walls of the bathroom were hunter green with a lighter shade of green counter where the sink was. Kagami suddenly felt as if she was in the presence of nobles, which made her feel underdressed.

'You're beside Kankurou. Hope that you don't mind. If he gets on your nerves, just go in there and whack him around a bit and he should leave you alone.' Temari explained. 'Oh yeah. Before I forget, Gaara wanted me to give you this. Don't ask me why.' she said and handed Kagami a small box. She looked at it questioningly, then at Temari. 'Look, I told you not to ask me. I've got to go make dinner, so I'll be in the kitchen.' she said and started to walk away.

'I'll help if you want.' Kagami said, stopping her.

'Someone like you can cook? I'll believe that when I see it.' Temari said.

'I'll take you to your word. I'll cook dinner myself, and since you don't believe that I can cook, you get to buy the things I need. Deal?' she asked holding out her hand.

'Deal.' Temari said taking her hand in a firm grip. 'Get a list ready and I'll be back shortly with the things that you'll need.' she said.

Kagami got a piece of toilet paper and wrote the list of items that Temari would need to get.

'We've already got some of this. Hamburger meat is in the refrigerator and the pasta's in the cabinet above the stove. I'm sure Kankurou will show you where everything is.' Temari said and turned to leave.

'Wait,' Kagami said making her stop once again. Temari turned and sighed once more. 'If you like my food, you have to be nicer to me. Deal on that as well?' she stated. Temari grunted a yes and left the room before she could call her back.

Kagami walked up to her door and watched the female walk down the hall. Hopefully things would work out okay and they could be friends without anything horrible happening. She turned and went back inside her room and shut her door and leaned against it.

**_You're happy aren't you young one?_**

_Yes I am. I know how fond you are of questions, but I have one more._

_**What is it?**_

_Are you the one that's been making me cough recently?_

_**Partly yes. You have a small cold and I'm trying to fight it away. I'm sorry if I hurt you young one.**_

_You didn't hurt me. You hurt Gaara by making him worry. I don't want people to worry about me unless I'm in real danger, and even then I don't want them to worry about me._

_**I understand young one. I will be more careful next time.**_

_Are you telling the truth?_

_**Yes. I told you that I would do my best not to kill you didn't I?**_

_Yeah. Your attitude about being inside me has changed considerably._

_**So it has, so it has. Just open that box that Gaara gave you. I too am curious to see what's found inside.**_

With a smile spread across Kagami's lips, she made her way to the bed that was in her room. The décor of the bed seemed to match the room well enough. It wasn't like she was going to go on a decorating splurge anytime soon. She was far too lazy for that. She preferred to cook for family and friends and just live her life like she wanted; even though she had a demon inside of her. She wasn't going to let herself down because of it either.

She put the small black box on her leg and slowly opened it, afraid at anything that might pop out at her. Inside lying on thin cotton the length of the box was a small gold necklace. It didn't look like the false gold that people would buy for their so-called loved one. It was _real_. There was also a small piece of paper inside. She took it carefully and realized that it was scroll paper. She smirked at his creativity and unrolled it. Inside there was a short song. She skimmed over the song once, then twice, then started to sing it aloud lightly.

_Little child, be not afraid,  
__The rain pounds harsh against the glass  
__Like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger,  
__I am here tonight  
__  
Little child, be not afraid,  
__Thunder explodes and lightning flash,  
__Illuminates your tear stained face,  
__I am here tonight  
__  
And someday you'll know  
__That nature is so  
__The same rain that draws you near me  
__Falls on rivers and land  
__On forest and sand  
__Makes the beautiful world that you'll see  
__In the morning_

Kagami smiled as she remembered the first day that she met him. It was raining and she was crying. Everything was there in the song. Everything…

_Little child, be not afraid,  
__Though the storm cloud mask your beloved moon  
__It's candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams  
__I am here tonight_

_Little child, be not afraid  
__The wind makes creatures of out tree,  
__Their branches to hands, they're not real understand  
__And I am here tonight_

She remembered that when it rains, the wind would blow and make the trees look alive. It always scared her when she was a child, but she got used to it after a while, though, she would sometimes get scared when they swayed in the wind when she could see them.

_For you know, once even I was a  
__Little child,  
__And I was afraid,  
__But a gentle someone always came  
__To dry all my tears,  
__Trade sweet sleep for fears,  
__And to give a kiss goodnight_

_Well now I am grown,  
__And these years have show,  
__That rains a part of how life goes,  
__But it's dark and its late,  
__So I hold you and wait,  
__Till your frightened eyes do close_

_And I hope that you'll know…_

_Everything's fine in the morning,  
__The ran will be gone in the morning,  
__But I'll still be here in the morning…_

She felt warm tears slide down her face but she quickly wiped them away. She rolled the scroll back up and put it back inside the box. The necklace, she clasped around her neck and she put the box inside the nightstand beside the bed. Afterwards, she quickly composed herself and made her way to the kitchen.

§§§

Kagami had put the hamburger meat on just when Temari returned. When the other female put the bag on the counter, Kagami dug out the cottage cheese and the finely shredded cheese. Once the hamburger was done, she put it in a bowl along with the cottage cheese and mixed it together. Once it was mixed good, she put a bit of it in three bowls. She handed one of the to Temari who was standing at the counter near the doorway watching her.

'Try this.' she said. Temari took the bowl and looked at it suspiciously.

'What is it?' she asked with her nose up in the air.

'Part of lasagna.' Kagami replied.

She watched as Temari scooped up a small bit with her finger and sick it in her mouth. There was a silence before either of them spoke.

'I've got to give some of this to Kankurou and Gaara.' she said. Kagami handed her the other two bowls.

'Bring them in here. I want to see them eat it.' she said with a sly grin. She watched the blond walk into the next room and basically drag her two brothers into the kitchen.

'Eat.' Temari said handing them each a bowl. In the same pattern as Temari did, they ate until the bowls clean.

'Where did you learn to cook like that?' Kankurou asked.

'Well, when you're living alone for most of your life, you have to know something besides being there right? This was something that I tested out, like I do most my stuff, and it turned out like that. I liked it so much that I memorized the ingredients and had Temari go out to get them for me.' Kagami explained.

'This was much better than the last thing you had me try.' Gaara said putting the bowl down on the counter.

'What was that again? You told me once, but I forgot.' Kankurou asked.

'You forget everything little bro.' Temari said playfully.

'It was a chocolate pie wasn't it?' Gaara stated looking at Kagami.

'Yeah. And that thing was horrible too. I think you ate all of the slice I gave you to make me feel better about myself.' Kagami replied grinning. 'Well, you think that was good? Just wait until you try the whole thing.' she then said opening the oven and checking on her gourmet.

§§§

'I think you've won my stomach.' Kankurou said patting his stomach as he spoke.

'Okay, you win this deal. I'll be nicer to you.' Temari said.

'Glad you liked it.' Kagami said glancing over to Gaara's plate, which was empty. 'I take it you liked it as well?' she asked. He nodded. She stood up and began to clean off the table. 'Sorry that I didn't have a desert ready. Whenever I make this, I like to have a cake or something for afterwards, but you guys didn't have any cake mix so I didn't worry about it.' she said from the kitchen.

She started to fill up the sink with warm water and began to wash the dishes that they'd messed up. When she was washing a plate, Temari came and tapped her on the shoulder.

'I'll take care of the dishes. You take a break. You've done enough to be granted our hospitality.' she said.

'You sure?' Kagami asked. Temari nodded and Kagami nodded back at her, smiling and left the room.

'Can I talk to you in private?' Gaara asked her once she'd made it to the next room.

'Sure.' she replied. Gaara stood up and walked away from the room and she followed.

§§§

'What did you want to talk about?' she asked once he'd stopped.

'I want to know what's living inside you.' Gaara replied with a look of concern on his face. Kagami chuckled cautiously.

§§§

_**Did that answer your question Moon? Yes, Kagami prepared her famous Lasagna once again. She seems to win everyone over with that doesn't she?**_


	17. Chapter XVI

_**Disclaimer: Today for to tell you that I own nothing, I've got Temari here to tell you that. On to you Temari.  
**__**Temari: Ayame owns nothing of Naruto and everything it copyrighted to it's maker, Masashi Kishimoto. No suing allowed here.  
**__**Thank you Temari.  
**__**A/N: Glad that I answered your question Moon.**_

§§§

_**The Truth**_

§§§

'What are you talking about Gaara? I've got a small cold, but that's it.' Kagami lied. Gaara stared her down with his arms crossed. He wasn't buying anything she said.

'So, you're telling me that you got unusually stronger since the last time that I saw you, which was a little over a month ago if you remember?' he replied with disapproving eyes. That look from before was gone, as Kagami noted, which saddened her. She sighed and finally told him what she wanted to keep hidden until she knew that _she _was ready.

'Well,' she started. She couldn't tell him after all. There was a long silence before either of them spoke again.

'Well?' he asked sounding annoyed. She sighed again.

'I've got a demon living inside me.' she blurted out. She looked up at Gaara to see him staring wide-eyed at her. 'I'm sorry that I lied before. Well, it was part a lie, but I'm sorry nonetheless.' she said looking down.

'It's okay that you lied. You were afraid. It's human nature to lie when they are afraid of something.' Gaara said calmly.

'You mean… you mean that you're not mad?' she asked still disbelieving what she'd just heard.

'No. I don't like to accept the fact that there's a demon living inside of me, that just so happened to take the life of my mother when I was born.' he replied. 'Look. I know that I can't help you with this, but I do want to be there. If you ever feel that you need to talk to me about this, just come find me, or call my name. I'll be there before you can finish.' he said with a smile. Kagami covered her mouth to chuckle. 'What's so funny?' he asked.

'You smiled.' she replied. He quickly wiped the grin off his face. 'No, it looks good on you.' she said putting on a smile herself. She covered her mouth again, but this time to cough.

'You need to rest if you say that you have a cold.' Gaara said patting her back. She turned to look at him and started to say something, but started having another coughing fit. 'I'll take you to your room.' he said putting his hand on her back and slightly pushing her toward the door.

By the time that they got halfway to her room, she'd calmed down enough to speak, only she didn't say anything. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would start coughing again, and she knew that when she did that, it made Gaara worry in his own way. She didn't want to make him worry. Instead, she grasped the necklace that he'd given her.

§§§

'Remember, call me if you need me.' he whispered as he laid her down on her bed. She looked up at him, smiled and nodded. He put on the grin that she thought looked good on him and walked to the door.

'Gaara,' she said. He stopped and turned to look at her. 'I've missed you.' she said calmly and closed her eyes.

'I've missed you too.' he said lowly and left the room.

Kagami heard him leave the room. When she thought that he would be far enough from her room, she pulled out the song that he's given her with the necklace. There was something about it that made her want to laugh aloud. Maybe it was the fact that Gaara would never _say_ those things to someone in person. Funny, she never imagined him as the shy type. She returned to her bed and pulled the covers to her chin, but she didn't sleep.

You know that feeling when you're in complete solitude? Alone? Scared? Well, image that, just ten thousand times worse, and you'll get not even a fraction of how Kagami felt. She felt more than scared, more than alone. And she didn't know why.

§§§

She sat up and looked at the sunrise before she decided to get dressed for the day. She sighed when she remembered that she didn't pack that many clothes, but she pushed the thoughts to regret aside and dressed in something similar to the day before. Black tank top with a semi see through long sleeve shirt over that, and finally black pants similar to her brothers, save the bandage on the thigh. She quickly put on her shoes that she wore day after day and decided that it was time for a new pair. She had to go shopping today anyway.

She walked out of her room to see Gaara standing nearby.

'Good morning.' she said tiredly.

'Did you sleep well?' he asked without looking at her.

'Yep.' she lied, but she was cheerful about it.

'You didn't sleep a wink did you?' he asked now looking at her from the corner of his eyes, which scared her slightly.

'Nope.' she confessed. 'Anyways, I was thinking about going shopping today. Would you like to join me?' she asked.

'Sure.' he said calmly.

**_Why is he being so strange?_**

_I don't know. Maybe he's just thinking too much about something or another._

_**Either that, or you have made a huge difference in his attitude and he's trying to accept it.**_

_What me? I didn't do anything._

_**Yes you did.**_

_How so?_

_**You taught him a new feeling. A feeling that he hasn't felt in a long time.**_

'Well, I better go make breakfast.' she said trying to get away from the way that he was acting. She turned to leave.

'Wait,' he started. She turned to face him. 'Can… can I tell you something?' he asked. That look was back. That look which she couldn't explain. Something deep inside of him was different and he was listening to that feeling alone.

'S-Sure.' she stammered and motioned for him to follow her into her room.

Once they were inside, things seemed to change within Gaara, and he seemed to let everything that he felt out in two simple words.

'I'm sorry.' he said.

'For what?' she asked. There was a long pause before he replied.

'Kagami,' he said. She looked at him funny for she was still taken aback by the fact that he said that he was sorry. 'I'm sorry that I hurt you.' he finished.

'It's okay.' she said, still confused.

'No, no it's not. I hurt you before and that almost got you killed. When you were talking to me when I was a monster, I heard everything you said. You told me that I wasn't alone, and that when you met me, I was afraid as you were. It was the truth. I was afraid. Fear is in the unknown right. You were so unknown and foreign to me that, at first, I was afraid to let you into my life like I did, but I finally overcame that fear. Thanks to you, I do know that I'm not alone. If I have you… I'll never be alone.' he explained.

'What are you saying?' she asked looking into his pale aquamarine eyes.

'Something that I've tried to say for a long time. I've been shouting it, but no one could seem to hear me. It was like they were light-years away and you were the only one near me to hear and I'd much rather tell it to you than anyone.' he said calmly.

'So, let me get this right. You've been trying to tell others this something that you couldn't even tell me, right?' she asked. Gaara nodded. 'If this is what I think it is, I might want to sit down.' she said chuckling casually. She walked over to the bed and sat down, then motioned for him to save a seat next to her. He did so like an obedient dog, which she giggled at once she thought it. 'Okay, what have you been trying to tell me?' she asked though she thought she already knew.

'So many things actually. There's one that I keep remembering, even now and when you're away. 'Love is something that you can give freely to the people that you care for.' That's what he told me before he tried to kill me, and I think I finally understand what he was talking about. When you love someone, you're supposed to share that love with that someone correct? Well, what I've wanted to say is basically, I love you.' he said. Something about his words made her laugh out loud. 'What's so funny?' he asked.

'I'm still trying to figure out why someone like you, the future Kage of Suna, is in love with someone like me, a nobody.' she replied once she'd regained composure.

'You're not a nobody, you're a somebody. Someone dear to me once believed that they were a no one, and she finally accepted that she had someone with her that would treat her like someone.' he said. 'And that person was you. You taught me so many things, but moreover, you taught me how to love once more. I thought was I was lost when it came to something like that, but you showed me everything that I missed. You brightened up my days and nights with your smile. Everything about you, your eyes, smile, laugh, everything that I've missed out on was inside you. You were and are my light.' he finally said. 'Man, all that sounded so lame and clichéd.' he scoffed and put his head in his hands.

'No it didn't. I thought that it sounded really sweet and caring. I knew there was something like that down in you somewhere.' Kagami said putting an arm around him. He jumped slightly at the warmth of her arm. He wasn't used to have people hold him like she was.

They sat like that for a couple of minutes, just enjoying each others company. Kagami had her head rested on Gaara's shoulder while Gaara had rested his head on hers. Minutes turned into an eternity in their heads. They were happy.

A picture that could say more than a thousand words. A feeling that was more than anything they imagined. Much more than they thought they wanted.

'I'm holding you up from shopping.' Gaara said lowly after what felt like years. Kagami was silent. He looked over to her, careful not to hurt her. She was sleeping. He guessed that not sleeping all night had finally got to her. He carefully laid her back onto her bed and managed to get behind her without waking her, and he laid down with her with his arm around her waist. He really wasn't letting her go this time.


	18. Chapter XVII

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto. Sorry for the late update. I just got a new computer and I'm happy as hell.**

--

_**Regret**_

--

Once Kagami managed to fully wake, she slithered her way out of Gaara's arms and finally went out shopping. She finally got to get those shoes that she was eyeing weeks before.

When she returned home, Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou were looking at a huge book with questionable looks on their face. Once Gaara spotted her however, he shut the book quickly before she could even think about asking about it.

"What's going on?" she asked walking up to the trio. Kankurou just looked at her, sighed and walked away saying something about the fact that she ask too many questions. Temari didn't move, which scared Kagami. Temari normally had something to say to the other woman whether it be good or bad. Just last week, they'd gotten into a huge argument about a hair color that Kagami wanted to use, and yesterday, they were talking about the new shoes that they had both wanted but couldn't afford.

"What was that book about?" she said looking around at the group. She knew that they were hiding something that could hurt her by looking into Gaara's pupil-less eyes.

"Should we just tell her?" Temari asked her youngest sibling. Gaara shook his head.

"I'll tell her." he simply said. He put an hand on Kagami's shoulder and led her out of the room.

--

Once they were in Gaara's study (as she called it), Kagami watched as he flipped the pages of the book that he was holding earlier. Once he found the page, he skimmed the words and put it down where she could read it.

"Paragraph seventeen." he said as he moved to look out the window. There was another sandstorm going on and Gaara seemed to be more interested in it than her reaction once she read the words.

_There are demons in this world that can live inside of humans, we all know this. The two most widely known are the Raccoon demon, living inside a child living in the sand village, and the nine-tailed fox, living inside a child in the leaf village; but there are more. The wolf demon lived inside of a woman from the leaf village, but once the woman died, it was believed to have passed to her daughter. There is no record of this however, and hopefully there will never be. The wolf demon is dangerous, especially to the person housing it._

Below the writing, there was a picture of the three demons. She didn't know how the person had managed to get a picture of the wolf and raccoon, but the nine-tailed fox image was from when it had ravaged Konoha. There was more writing below the images.

_The only way to rid the world of these monstrosities is to destroy them when they are in full form, but this will also kill the person housing it. We would not advise taking on these demons alone; we all remember what happened to the Fourth Hokage of the leaf village._

Kagami paced around the room. She didn't want him to know about anything that was living inside her. He'd gotten out of her the fact that she was housing a demon, but he didn't want her to know this.

_**You are upset young one.**_

_You think?! I didn't know any of this. Now I know that if I loose control of you, someone will have to kill me just to stop you._

_**It's hard to regain control--**_

_I know this! I saw Gaara loose control! Leave me alone!_

"Gaara…" she finally managed to say. "I'm sorry. If I knew about all this, I would've told you…" her voice trailed before she could even get to the point of what she was saying. She felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. She didn't wish for the demon inside of her! Why was her punishment death for getting too upset? She just wanted things to go back to normal. "Gaara…" she started

"Kagami," he started. "You are the best person in the world to me, but if you loose control, I want to be the one to kill you." he said without looking at her.

She started to shake. She hugged herself to try and calm herself down, but it only made her vibrate more. Her tears were falling freely now and she knew that there was nothing that she could do to stop them. When she turned to leave the room, Gaara took her hand.

"Kagami, it's not as hard as it seems to stay in control." he said looking into her eyes. "I can teach you to stay in control."

"I'm sorry Gaara, I don't want any sympathy. Leave me alone right now." she said and turned to run out of the room.

That night, the angels of Suna cried.

--

"Kagami, you've got to come out to eat eventually." she heard Kankurou say on the other side of her door; but she remained silent. "Kagami…"

"Leave me alone!" she yelled as she threw the nearest thing possible at the door. She blinked once she's realized what she threw. It was the small box that the necklace that Gaara gave her came in. Just then and there, she felt like she was being taken over but something that she couldn't understand. She didn't even know what to call the emotion, much less be able to explain it. She just knew that she had to go away before she hurt someone she cared about, and nothing was going to stop her. She remembered crawling out of the small window above her bed and making it to the outskirts before everything turned into complete darkness. She was no longer aware of what she was doing or where she was going.

--

"Gaara, we can't get Kagami out of her room." Temari said walking into Gaara's study. Her youngest brother was looking out of the window with a look of concern coloring his features.

"No need. She's outside, and _I _have to stop her." Gaara replied as he turned to move away from the window and out of the room. A hand grabbed his arm and he stopped.

"No!" Temari shouted. "I'm tired of you acting this way. You aren't alone and you never were. She was there for you when you were kids, and now Kankurou and I are here now. We do this together." she said with a tone of something that Gaara couldn't name.

"She has a point." a voice said. Gaara looked toward the door and realized that Kankourou had overheard. "You always act like you're alone. Well, we're going to show you that you aren't." he finished getting his chakra ready for the upcoming fight.

"Just let me be the one to kill her." Gaara said and the other two nodded. They knew better than to speak over him. This was something that he'd promised Kagami and he intended on keeping his promise to her, even if it was something that he didn't want to do.


End file.
